Well Google loves you! I typed in estate agents john hoping to find my site and I found The Park Paradigm – Data, AI, Web, Repeat. on the first page in the UK, Well done….

I think the new 2.0 agents handbook is NEEDED!

Too many old school trainers, books, and advice. It’s time for some new blood, fresh ideas, and progressive paths to achievement. (if I read one more article about direct mail I’ll toss my cookies!)

New Media Workshop Agenda

Workshop #1: Finding the Consumer Online (Where they at, what are they doing)
Date: February 17, 2009
Time: 10:00 am
Where: Conference Room
Summary: Understanding consumer behavior online. What are the most often things consumers do on the internet. How are they using Google and other search engines. How they make decisions based on what they find. How many use social networking and for what reason. What sites are they using most often. How are consumers collaborating and sharing information online. What is “Trusting” or Friend of a Friend (FOAF) and why is this important. How do people network online. Why does any of this matter? How to position yourself as a “Trusted Advisor” and a “Voice of Authority” on real estate related matters.

Workshop #2: Telling our Story (influencing consumer choice)
Date: March 3, 2009
Time: 10:00 am
Where: Conference Room
Summary: You need to live the real estate story in order to tell it well. We do this all the time in the real world (offline). People hire us because of our knowledge of real estate in the local marketplace. The idea is to bring this conversation online and, using a suite of social media tools, share your knowledge with the world (broadcasting your expertise instead of repeating your story one client as a time). C21 CWA is now, in part, a media company(explain). How to become the real estate HUB. Using your expertise to own the local real estate discussion. Position yourself to become the voice of authority for local real estate matters. Broker/Agent collaboration, sharing and delivering knowledge. Real expert knowledge is and always will be king.

Workshop #3: The Real Power of Social Media (Video, audio, photos, graphs, text)
Date: March 17, 2009
Time: 10:00 am
Where: Conference Room
Summary: People want to know what you are about before contacting you. This get’s back to the power of consumer choice. People using the Internet, quite naturally, are going to seek the best information and find the best resources available to help them with the decision making process. There is where the power of social media really kicks in. Video, for example, is a multi-sense medium (visuals, sounds, audio and text). It’s well documented that appealing to more senses increases the chance that people will remember you and your message. We need to learn how to re-purpose or transform content from one medium to another more effective one. In this workshop we will explore how social media tools are changing the real estate marketing landscape and what you need to do to take advantage of this emerging trend. BIG STUFF.
• Show Videos
• Discuss new website

Workshop #4: The Future of the Internet is the Distributed Web
Date: March 31, 2009
Time: 10:00 am
Where: Conference Room
Summary: It used to be that the primary goal of being online was to drive traffic to your site, and then to CAPTURE the consumer as a lead. Well, consumers don’t want to be “captured,” like mice in a trap. In fact, they find it insulting and will dismiss you and never return if you employ this strategy. While driving traffic to our site is still important, there are way too many sites out there trying to do the same. A better strategy is to understand the fragmented, distributed nature of the Internet and that the audience is on a multitude of platforms. The trick is to find out where they are and meet and greet them on their terms. For example, if you have an agent profile video, you need to think about putting it up on Facebook, Active Rain, Craigslist, the online Yellow pages, Google email etc. Determine where your clients are congregating and then try and get in front of them—non-intrusively. This workshop will help you make sense of the distributed nature of the web and how to market yourself effectively.

Workshop #5: Leveraging SocNets (Facebook, Active Rain, Twitter)
Date: April 7th, 2009
Time: 10:00am
Where: Conference Room
Summary: Social networks are a great way to stay in touch with your friends and family—and they can also be a lot of fun. But there are ways to leverage these networks to generate business. There are also things you should not do on these networks or you will drive people away. Many Realtors are using socnets, but not many are using them correctly (example). This workshop will focus on how to successfully implement a social networking strategy that works for you all the time, whether your online or not. We will explore tactics and strategies and review case studies designed to make SocNets work to generate new business opportunities. Also, see distribution strategies.

Workshop #6: Developing and Implementing a Web Marketing Strategy
Date:
Time: 10:00am
Where: Conference Room
Summary: Bringing it home. Bridging the gap between the real and the virtual worlds (Facebook)

• How do brokers and agents differentiate themselves
• A WORD About Agent Video Profiles

When to be release…? They don’t know.

Do they have a list of IDX providers for Canada…? Nope.

Can I make a recommendation to the board as to the frustrations that I’m having trying to find an IDX solution…? Not my department.

What department are you…? IT (I had to laugh)

So far this process has been completely hands off:

No one has told me what to look in a brokerage

No one has told me about mentoring programs

No one has told me about IDX or VOW…I left a message for my local board and the guy who answered had no clue and passed me through to someone’s VM and it’s been over 2 hours and I still haven’t heard from them

I called a local brokerage and asked if any of the Brokers, not the salespeople blog and the receptionist was like “Blog…?” I had to laugh.

Any training programs I’ve seen I have to pay for…that’s after shelling out $$$$$ for courses, licensing, board fees.

I tell you that after it’s all said I done I’m gonna right the book about this!

Anyone want to collaborate?

Seems the bottom line is that brokers who want to recruit and retain the best agents need to play to those who get it instead of placating those who don’t