Yesterday marked the second installment of Jim Cronin and Real Estate Tomato's Virtual Real Estate BarCamp, prominently held in a computer near you. Across the country, 1000's of real estate agents and professionals logged into various webinars to see presentations by some of the best in the RE.net space. Here are a few I was able to attend (at least in part) and at least one takeaway from each.
Sherry Chris on Next Generation Brokerages
Sherry talked about the brokerage of the future. Sherry sees less physical office space, more technology, and is committed to helping agents generate leads and convert them. She cited NAR's statistic that 80% of people who list their home do not use the REALTOR(r) who sold it to them. Sherry and BHG's vision on Next Generation real estate can be found here.
Jeff Turner on Listening with Intent
Jeff provided the group with some great Twitter tools to allow you really listen to see who is saying what about a particular topic, including TweetGrid and Twazzup. I learned that "retweeting" later allows you reach a different group of people, and thereby makes you a better listener.
Jay Thompson on Getting Your Blog On
This was the most topical for me, as I am struggling to blog consistently. Jay talked about what to blog about, when to blog, and most importantly to focus more on consistent, passionate content than search engine optimization (SEO). Jay's presentation can be found here.
Rob Hahn on Social Media Heresies
Rob's premise was simple yet powerful: focus on making a better product or providing a better service, and let your fans use social media for you. He cited Apple as a company that does nothing directly in the social media space, but is obviously highly successful and relies heavily on its customers to market for them. Rob's entire presentation can be found here.
Keep an eye on the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp website (or the regular Real Estate BarCamp site) if this stuff interests you and you want to attend one yourself. Lots of knowledge, no cost!
