By Drew Burks
It used to be that real estate practitioners set out to dominate a geographic farm or neighborhood by using methods like cold calling, door knocking, direct mail, door hangars, etc…
Now real estate pros find themselves competing in a much larger and fiercer farm … the Internet!
Social networking sites have become the new geographic farm for those in real estate and you need to be active on these sites. I am shocked when I hear agents tell me they aren’t on these sites, most tell me something like they just don’t have the time or see the value.
What are you thinking?
On the other hand, I talk to a great deal of agents who, like me, created a page on one of the many social network sites and began adding friends willy-nilly, co-workers, and clients … really anyone you could think of.
The problem is … this strategy, or lack of strategy, doesn’t work!
I spent 2-3 years working my tail off to participate in social networking, joining every site someone referred me to and blogging 2-3 times per week and got zilch to show for it. Yet I was confident that it was necessary to be active in social networks, I just wasn’t sure what I was doing incorrectly—or not doing period—so I became a student of “succeeding online”.
I have learned many important lessons when it comes to succeeding online, but below are a few of the critical ones to winning in the social networks, aka; Continue reading »
By Katherine Tarbox, REALTOR® Magazine
Millions of viewers watched ABC’s “Bachelorette” Monday night as Reid Rosenthal, a real estate practitioner with Prudential Fox & Roach of Philadelphia, got his heart broken when Jillian Harris turned down his surprise wedding proposal. So how is this bachelor mending his broken heart?
In a recent People magazine article, Reid says his real estate business is busy.
When Reid — who is still single, ladies — was asked about the prospect of being named the “Bachelor” for a future show, the REALTOR® replied: “The downside is it is a ton of work. Work doesn’t scare me but with real estate being so busy now, it’s gonna be hard for me to figure out how to keep my business and at the same time do that.”
The Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS® launched their new YPN chapter with a wine tasting event on July 16 at Sunset Grill. About 75 young professionals turned out for the networking event. View the photos below!
Get your YPN chapter’s events featured on the YPN Lounge blog! Send in your photos and write a blog post about your event to share with our YPN community. Please send to ypn@realtors.org (subject line: “YPN Lounge: Chapter Event”).
By Julie Cain Cwynar
Have you ever asked yourself if commercial real estate may be for you? Not sure where to start or where to go for answers? The “Discovering Commercial Real Estate” course is an excellent place to begin! After taking the course, I feel as though I’ve just had an in-depth conversation with an experienced commercial broker who has described what I need to do to begin in the commercial arena.
Below are a number of interesting points I have taken from the course:
- Commercial real estate requires a long-term, singularly-focused commitment. Practicing both residential and commercial real estate will only lengthen the process of achieving success in the commercial arena.
San Diego will be the place to be this fall! The 2009 REALTOR® Conference & Expo will be in San Diego Nov. 13-16, and YPN members will have plenty of opportunities to network and attend sessions to better your business!
There will be a range of sessions to help you maximize technology, improve your prospecting, and jump-start your sales with a special Young Professionals track. This lineup of sessions, identified by our YPN Advisory Board, features a sample conference calendar to help you get the most from your conference. View the Young Professionals track online.
Also, be sure to watch this short video from YPN Advisory Board Chair Shannon Williams King, who will be delivering the session “Real Estate Road Warrior,” at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. In the session, King-who runs two real estate offices in different states-will provide 15 new tools to help you get more out of your business, including how to start a virtual office, mobile technology to help you stay ahead of the curve, and how you can be more profitable and efficient in your business.
You can view other videos from conference speakers at REALTOR.org.
Also, save the date: YPN’s annual networking event! On Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., you’ll have the chance to connect with more than 300 other new and young real estate pros in the business. Continue reading »
REALTOR® Magazine online will be featuring an upcoming article about closing gifts, and we want to hear from you! Please answer our two poll questions below and, if you’re interested in sharing your thoughts for the article, send us your comments to our two extra questions below or just share your comments on this blog.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Comment on the blog or send your responses to these questions to writer Erica Christoffer at echristoffer@realtors.org.
- Do you think closing gifts are important and why or why not?
- What kinds of gifts have you found success with?
One year ago today, the expectation involved in how a real estate conference has to be structured was turned on its ear. One year ago today, RE BarCamp San Francisco marked the real estate industry’s entry into the world of un-conferences.
What’s an unconference? What does BarCamp mean? Don’t let the odd names scare you off. Simply put, this is a user driven conference. The audience drives the topics. The audience can get as involved as they want in every session. The best sessions are not as much presentations as they are discussions. The speakers are really just facilitators. Now here’s the best part. The schedule isn’t even made until the day of the event. Sometimes, sessions are even created on the fly.
This sort of event could never work with a room full of real estate agents, right?
The first RE BarCamp, held the day before Inman Connect last summer drew nearly 200 participants. It was so successful, and drew so many positive reviews, that Inman actually hosted an Re BarCamp during their January Connect event in New York. Since then, more than 30 of these events have either been completed or are in planning. Often, it’s the participants of these events that go on to organize them in their own region. Just this spring NAR hosted RE BarCamp Chicago and is helping to bring this real estate unconference to San Diego, just before the annual conference.
RE BarCamp and YPN.
Often, new agents feel like there’s a disconnect in how they want to market and what’s popular with the establishment. RE BarCamp is the place where progressive ideas in real estate are being discussed. Forget about Facebook pages, this is Face 2 Face. This is a great opportunity to meet with like minded REALTORS. Chances are, an RE BarCamp event is coming to a market near you very soon. If not, plan your own. Those who have already done so are happy to help.
Upcoming RE BarCamp Events
San Francisco August 4th
Columbus August 20th
Miami September 14th
Lynchburg October 8th
Washington DC October 27th
Plus details on Pittsburgh, Albuquerque, Ocean City, Raleigh, Austin, Indianapolis, Toronto, and of course San Diego are coming soon.
By Darrin Friedman
Question: Are you out there?
Answer: No – you’re not!
Not all that long ago I was asked to be a contributing blogger for the YPN Lounge, a blogging community made up of youngish real estate pros and brokers from across the country to share their unique perspective while maintaining a nurturing environment.
What happened? We let each other down.
Please don’t get me wrong, after all, our intentions were wonderful! But intentions can only take us so far. We must communicate. We MUST interact. The whole point of blogging, or any other social media, for that matter, is to have a conversation. We never did. Continue reading »
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