Conference Participation - Virtually

If you are a REALTOR®, your broker and your local association probably encourage you to attend conferences.  There are so many to choose from!

The National Association of REALTORS® has a conference every year, usually at the end of November / beginning of December.  Your state association probably has at least one conference every year, or may cooperate with neighboring states to run one larger conference.  And there are other conferences and workshops offered by professional groups, such as Inman.

For a few years, I have been participating in regional conferences and workshops focused on real estate marketing and technology.  Some of these, like the RE Barcamp workshops are spearheaded and organized by energetic local REALTORS and service providers.  These are fun days, with an informal format:  people with solid experience in some aspect of real estate technology volunteer to lead presentation-discussion sessions.

Another conference series I have enjoyed are those sponsored by Inman:  Inman Connect.  These conferences are held semi-annually, alternating between San Francisco (July or August) and New York (January).  One of the many helpful aspects of these conferences are the vendor booths, where you can talk with the people who are creating new and better applications to help brokers and agents do their jobs more effectively.  Inman always gathers together thought-leaders and innovators to provide insights into today's real estate trends, and has opportunities for hands-on learning, too.

Of course, few of us have the time or money to participate in all of the conferences that might interest us.  However, thanks to Twitter, you can participate in all of these conferences virtually.  These days, every conference has an official "hashtag" associated with it.  For example, the RE Barcamp hashtags invariably start #REBC, with one to three additional letters that identify the location (#REBCNY, #REBCPHL, etc.).

When you have logged into your Twitter account, search for the appropriate hashtag, then save the search.  You will be able to scan everything that is said about that conference.  Admittedly, some of it will be social in nature ("I'm on my way to #ICNY"), but much will be informative content.  Conference hashtag searches are valuable because experienced Twitter users (including me) do "tweet-reporting" from the conferences, specifically to share what they are hearing.

To find the relevant hashtag for a conference that you wish you were attending, search Twitter for the name of the conference - or ask your Twitter followers.

Using the Listing to Get the Listing

How can you use the listing, before you have the listing? (No, I haven't "lost it"!)

Technically, of course, you can't. However, you can create a marketing presentation that shows the seller exactly how your splendid marketing of their home will look.

For example, consider these simple options:

• Drive to the seller's home, ahead of time, and take a high-quality digital image of the exterior. Use that image in your customized listing presentation and in all of your marketing "mock-ups."
• Using an existing Featured Listing from your website as a base, create a dummy Featured Listing of the seller's property, including all of the information that you currently have about the property. (You can make up the rest, borrow it from one of your existing listings, or use the standard "lorem ipsem" nonsense text as filler.)
• Similarly, create an Open House Listing Sheet, and any other kind of marketing collateral that you typically use.

The sellers will understand that, with incomplete information, your marketing samples will not be complete or accurate. But, they will be impressed with the extra time and effort you invested. And, they will be able to visualize, much more easily, just how your complete marketing system can work for them.

3 Reasons for Optimism

Are you succumbing to the barrage of bad news about the housing market, home financing, and the stock market? Is all that doom and gloom affecting how you perceive your chosen career in real estate?

Let me offer 3 reasons for optimism and, therefore, 3 reasons to renew your efforts:

1. Mortgage rates are affordably low for many people who might not have qualified at last year's rates - even under today's more stringent qualification rules. Although it may take more time, people can qualify for loans. Qualify first, so that buyers and sellers can proceed with confidence.
   
   
2. Most first-time home buyers - and there's a fresh group every month - are in better financial shape than those from older generations, who have run up mountains of debt. First-time home buyers are good prospects - as are many recent immigrants. Focus on niche markets like these.
   
   
3. Real estate professionals have been closing transactions throughout this downturn, and the pace is picking up. Every day, my TwitterStream and Facebook Status reports describe listings sold, offers accepted, financing granted, and closings concluded.
   

To rekindle your own business, build these 3 reasons for optimism into your prospecting and marketing materials, and blog about examples specific to your marketplace.

Have you observed other reasons for optimism? Please describe them in a Comment!