A Tech Savvy Day in Philadelphia

Joanne had a great sales meeting in our @CBHearthside Philadelphia Office yesterday featuring Stephen Pacinelli of Move (they own Top Producer and Realtor.com). Find Steve here for details on his products. Of course he had a sales pitch, but it was short and painless and really only at the very end of his program. Before that, he talked about all sorts of cool stuff that you should know about ....

Since I was in attendance, I wanted to write a quick post to share what Steve had to say.

First, I have to mention that Steve is one of the creators of the Tech Savvy Agent blog - so you know I was in full crush-mode right from the start. And just so you know, I'm not the only one crushing on these guys, they just won the Inman News 2010 Innovator of the Year Award for the "Most Innovative Blog". Check out the blog at: http://techsavvyagent.com and you'll see why.

So let's get to it ...

1. Agent Ranking Sites

This is not the first time we've heard about these sites, in fact Realtor Magazine has had some great articles on this topic. One of my favs > Ratings Matter by Blanche Evans back in March 2009, talked about the negative sites out there and how we can use sites like AgentRank and others to combat the bad reputation that Realtors sometimes get labeled with online. Steve showed us a site called Incredible Agents - www.incredibleagents.com and discussed how agents can use this site to ask our former clients for reviews and testimonials. If you think people are not Googling your name, I think you are living under a rock. Managing your online reputation is so important - this is an easy way to get your name out there and get some business!

*It's important to note that your name may already be on these sites - you can go there and claim your profile (usually for free) to start working on building your online reputation.


2. Google Alerts

Of course we've talked before about Google Alerts > www.google.com/alerts and how you can use them to track your name, your company or really anything else that is posted online. Remember, that Google Alerts will not tell you if someone has searched for you or your Google Alert term, only if someone has posted something online (on an open Facebook Page, a blog, etc.)


3. Domain Names

But all the good domains are gone! Well, they are after Steve's class at least. I have always told you, I think it's super important to own www.yourname.com, but of course, you can have more than one domain and guess what? There are still good ones out there! He suggested ... www.yourtownhousevaluesdotcom or something similar. Put your consumer hat on and consider what you would Google when researching for a home.


4. Giving consumers what they are looking for on your website

Steve talked about providing the consumers with what they are looking for on your websites and showed us a few of the Top Producer template sites. We talked about search (with IDX of course) and market data being super important. The sites were pretty slick, even for templated sites and the Market Data add-on report/page had some lead generation and I think a drip email campaign that came with the package. Ping him here for details.

We believe that the search is key to any real estate website, which is why all of you have IDX enabled websites with a search box front and center. We also have an add-on that we call the Market Data widget that will give your clients Market Data reports for the areas in which they are interested. Our market data reports are not the same thing you would get with Top Producer, but they are a nice add-on and a great way to give a market snapshot to your consumers.


5. Zillow Accuracy & Jing

Steve discussed Zillow and how we should be showing our consumers the accuracy of their numbers. The accuracy information is all the way at the bottom of the home page ... click on Zestimate® Values & Accuracy and then you can search by state, county, etc.

















Steve used a tool called Jing to grab a screen shot similar to the one above. Get Jing for free here and click on free version to download. Jing is a screen clipping tool that allows you to grab a screen shot, add some graphics and text, then copy, email or share via screencast. For a short video on how Jing works, go here.

So as you see, tons of great information! If you have questions, ping me anytime!

Back to School for REALTORS!

When I was a kid, my Dad used to save all of the "Back to School" ads from the paper and share them with me. He loved to tease me that September was right around the corner and soon I would be back to school. Remember that Staples commercial where the Dad is dancing around the store buying school supplies for the miserable looking kids? That's my Dad. Oddly enough, I'm one of those people that L-O-V-E school. Love it. Big surprise I know.

September and the rest of the 2010 are packed with tons of amazing education opportunities at little or no cost to REALTORS. I challenge Y-O-U (yes, you in front of that laptop) to take advantage of some super cool classes and events! Let's run through them, shall we ...

September 16, 2010 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Coldwell Banker Regional Rally in Atlantic City, NJ
Atlantic City Hilton in the Cambridge Ballroom
Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Free seminar - Your business card is required for admittance!
Please register with your manager.

The skinny:

Jerry Rossi presents, "Things just don't gotta get better ... you do!" Are you stuck in a slow moving market of muck with sluggish price points, low-ball offers, short sale blah blah, short tempered sellers, frigid lenders, rigid appraisers, and a grinning squirrel saying, "I told you to stash nuts when ..."?

Now a solution! Come discover the spice you need to rejuvenate your business in four areas - Approach - Attack Plan - Tech Knowledge - & Work Smart Marketing. All provided during class - not sold at the back of the room.

Jerry Rossi’s goal for this class is for you to walk out ENERGIZED, REFRESHED, and EDUTAINED. Edutainer, Intuitionist, Thought Artist, Humorist, Motivator, Bon Vivant, & Lifestyle Mentor

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September 23rd, 2010 - 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
2010 Regional Education Conference
Radisson Hotel in Valley Forge, PA
Admission is $25 - go to the link above to sign up!

The skinny:

Conference Schedule:

Registration and Peer-to-Peer Networking

Morning Sessions:
Independent Association Business Meetings
Why Use Social Media to Market the Business of a REALTOR® (Melynn Sight; program description)

Lunch & Legislative Update Session:
Election Watch 2010 - Focus on Pennsylvania (Dr. Terry Madonna, program description)

Boxed lunch will be provided, compliments of the Suburban REALTORS® Alliance

Afternoon Sessions:
Think Globally, Sell Locally (Terry Watson, program description)
"Taking Your Career to the Next Level...with a Dash of Humor" (Mark Mayfield, program description)

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December 7th, 8th & 9th, 2010
REALTORS Triple Play
Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ
Registration opens in September! Early bird prices for 2009 were less than $75

The skinny:
Real estate professionals from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding states attend the annual Triple Play REALTOR^® Convention & Trade Expo in Atlantic City for a unique opportunity to attend professional development courses presented by nationally recognized speakers and maximize their business potential through networking with colleagues from across the tri-state area and beyond. This year's Triple Play will be held from December 7-9, 2010 and will feature a variety of quality workshops, keynote speeches, exciting social events and more. For details on how you can register, click here.

View a list of the 2010 Education Sessions here!

So get out there and attend these great events! You might even learn something :)

CB Hearthside Goes Virtual

On Monday, Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS launched its first virtual office in Malvern, PA. The term "virtual" is a bit of a misnomer as the office is still there. They have a manager of course, an admin, plus all of the other great tools and services that CB Hearthside offers agents.

The main difference is that everything the agents do can be done online and anywhere - from forms to office meetings, listing presentations to one-on-one's with their manager. The word freedom always comes to mind when I am explaining this new office model. Agents can take floor time on their cell phone - from home, Starbucks or the beach. We are utilizing all sorts of cool Google tools -Calendar, Voice and Docs specifically - to make a lot of the everyday office functioning seamless. Don't feel like working remotely? No problem, the office is still there.

The agents have access to their manager, admin, corporate staff and more via the traditional methods - phone, email and text; but we also set them up with Skype accounts and webcams so they can instant message or video chat with us whenever the need arises. Not sure how to enhance your listing on Realtor.com? No problem - Skype me and I can share my screen and show you the steps. Want to see me in person? Check the Google calendar - I have lots of dates posted for office visits, along with Chris Beadling, Jamie Mancuso and of course your manager. We'll see you at the office (which is still there).

Office meetings will be a mix of in person and web-based to reach every one of our agents how they wish to be reached. We are using DimDim for our web meetings. Just like everyone learns differently, we realize that some agents will still want to come into the office. Not a problem! Come in anytime, use the equipment, say hello. The office is still there.

Execute a deal? Great! Pop over to the office (yep, still there) to scan your file as you always have and drop the deposit check into our pre-paid UPS envelopes then toss it into the UPS box as you are driving away ... ahhh freedom. Your admin will email you with anything that is missing and take it from there.

So what's so different? Not much really. We started using a lot of these super cool tools over the last few years and we know that agents are spending less and less time in the office. Going virtual in this market just made sense.

Did I mention that the office is still here?

Still curious? Check out Chris Beadling's video on "A Day in the Life of a Virtual Agent".