Drew Burks
By Drew Burks
Are You Distracted?
In today’s world most of us are overwhelmed with information, new products, and services, most of which provide little more than distraction to the average person.
As a REALTOR®, it is definitely easy to get caught up in the hype of the latest technologies; after all, most of them are very appealing with the promises of making our lives easier and more profitable. Last week I attended the CAR Tech Tuesday event in Anaheim, Calif. and while there I had many great conversations with REALTORS®, but one really stood out in my mind …
“How does one cut through all of the noise that we are bombarded with to get to the dollar-producing activities?”
CAR added a fun twist to the event this year, they had a “meet the speakers” during a “speed networking” session. This was by far the best part of the day for me. Those of us who spoke at the event got the chance to do 4-minute sessions with approx 25-30 groups of approximately 30 people. The common questions asked by the REALTOR® attendees in these different groups were things like: Continue reading »
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
In an interesting change of pace, I am writing this post from our state REALTOR® Association meetings.
I wish you were here. No…I really wish you were here.
According to the National Association of REALTORS® 2009 Member Profile, 15 percent of our industry is age 40 or under. At these meetings, there aren’t even 15 people who fit that bill. These meetings (and I suspect those of many other states around the country) are demographically less diverse than a Friday night bridge game – and the decisions being made are going to impact our businesses for quite some time.
If you haven’t already, stop what you are doing and find out more about getting involved. Open a new browser tab and search for your local REALTOR® Association. Find out what committees they have and offer to help with one. I can tell you from my experience here that every committee wants to learn more about the millennial generation and how to communicate with us. They are eager to reach out to people like me and to share the benefits that come from being a part of one of the nation’s best industry groups.
I started attending these meetings to promote my newly created YPN chapter. For me, the hardest part was getting past the intimidation of the meetings themselves. Quite a few of my state’s real estate heavyweights lead committees here – and being the “new kid” was a bit daunting. As it turned out, they were happy to have someone like me around, and when I was able to help them with a few of the tech-tastic things that I know, they welcomed me in with open arms. Combined with the excitement generated over the growth of YPN, and the support it is getting from NAR, my involvement in these meetings has only become more exciting and fun. Continue reading »
Jonathan Osman
By Jonathan Osman
No one would have guessed that REALTORS® would look back on 2009 as “the good ole days,” but as the real estate market continues to find bottom, that’s exactly what some are doing. The reality for 2011 may be that we are all fighting for a smaller piece of the sales pie and remaining in business means implementing low-cost solutions to save money.
That being said, here are a five technology tools that brokers and agents alike should implement to help survive an uncertain 2011.
1. Cloud-based Phone Service
The telephone is still the most important tool of our business but for most brokerages, this can result in a huge monthly expense towards the bottom line. Plus, every agent walks around with a phone attached to their hip so is the expense of a phone system and monthly service even necessary?
Services like RingCentral, Grasshopper, and Phonebooth offer users a plethora of options and features usually reserved for phone systems that cost as much as a BMW 550i for less than the cost of a cell phone bill. Local number – check, 800 number – check, fax-to-email – check. “Find Me” features – check. Best of all, whether you are a solo agent, small company working from home, or a mid-sized firm with 50 agents, you can still have the big-company presence which is could help in recruiting agents to work for you. Continue reading »
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