networking

What an agenda.

This morning at 10:00 a.m. Sherry will be giving a keynote address at the Unchained Orlando Marketing Conference sponsored by the Bloodhound Blog guys. That’s taking place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Orlando Airport.

Later in the day, Sherry will running a program, “Building and Managing a Network of Networks,”  at the NAR Conference. That presentation takes place from 2:30 – 4:00 in Room W330D in the West building. Sherry’s going to take the audience from the “tried and true” to the entirely new world of social media networking.

To top it off, this evening at the RISMedia PowerBroker dinner, Sherry has the honor of introducing one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time, 9-time GOLD medalist, Mark Spitz.

Additionally, we’ve got a new spot in the Realogy booth #2816.

As Sherry would say, “Awesome!”

Read the rest of this entry »

In real estate 101 training I was taught that you tell everyone you know what you are doing and then remind them every time you see them that you are selling real estate. One of my first lessons was to write down the names of everyone I  knew and then contact them to let them know I was now selling real estate. For many new agents today that is done instantly via their Facebook profile.

Now that real estate 101 and Facebook 101 have met, there are amazing opportunities. I admit, it took me a while to figure this out, but recently it dawned as me as I was watching the updates of my selling agent friends on Facebook. They’ve been posting their new listings as newsfeeds and sharing status updates on their latest work-related activities. Facebook has become the Web 2.0 delivery vehicle for just listed and just sold cards. Cool!

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Sherry Chris

At the upcoming NAR conference in November, I will be speaking about the power of networking and how it can have a profound impact on your business. One of the masters of networking is author and professional speaker Keith Ferrazzi who wrote the bestseller Never Eat Alone. Not only has Keith turned his natural networking ability into a very successful business, but he has managed to stay ahead of the curve by using social networking. If you check him out on Facebook he has thousands of friends and he just launched his own social networking site. Go take a look. We are fortunate to have Keith as a member of our advisory board. His wisdom and insight is invaluable.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Jason Steele

Over the past month I have been searching for the first addition to my staff. We posted the position internally and on all of the major job boards, monster, craigslist, Yahoo!, etc.. The position requires about 3-5 years experience and would most likely attract someone in their 20s. I had a hypothesis going into the process and it was to see how well my application of social media would shape each candidates interview process.

Before joining BH&G Real Estate I would go into an interview blind as Googling the company and prospective Executive leadership could only get you so far. When I was interviewing for the VP of Interactive Marketing position here it was a whole different story. I was on our Industry blog, read press releases on Realogy’s web site, investigated Sherry, Nicolai & Wendy’sbackgrounds on Linkedin, searched for any viral video on YouTube and lastly took a shot in the dark that they maintained Facebook pages (which they all do). I got to know each and every one of them personally and professionally via those sources before I even walked in the door. I was able to evaluate whether or not my vision for the brand and professional goals were shared amongst my prospective boss and peers. I assume you know what the answer was as you are reading my post on the brand’s blog right now.

Read the rest of this entry »

Some of you might know that part of our launch strategy involves Twitter. We have partnered with Joel Burslem and his team to Twitter at Inman Connect. I admit that, at first, I didn’t fully understand how Twitter worked and what the benefits were going to be. I became even more confused when suddenly a bunch of people sent me e-mails to let me know they were “following me” on Twitter. “How did that happen?” I asked myself.

When I went on the site, all of my followers had invited me to follow them, so I clicked on the “yes” button. I was following around 40 people. I knew a bunch of them, but not all. They started sending me messages saying things like “thanks for the follow.” Twitter has its own underground language, just like everything else.

Read the rest of this entry »

One thing that I do every day is to make sure I am working on building relationships. Real estate is a people-intensive business and could easily be argued that we are actually the business of fostering‘relationships’, as opposed to managing‘transactions.’ As a result, the most critical activity for real estate sales associates, managers and owners alike, is to strengthen their relationships. This applies to both business and personal contacts and needs to be worked on a daily basis. Whether prospecting for buyers, sellers, hiring a top producer, or zeroing in on an M&A opportunity, effective relationship-building is the key to continued success.

Before going any further, it is important to draw a distinction between good relationship building and what is commonly referred to as ‘networking.’I would submit that networking,as it is now practiced,is a passé concept. The implications surrounding some networking techniques almost defeat the purposes for which they were designed. Terms such as ‘speed networking’ and other similarly impersonal ideas almost offend the senses. Stop and ask yourself… how can anyone build a relationship while moving at warp-speed? I always remind myself that the most important thing one person can give to another is their time and thoughtful attention. This is where quality relationships are born.

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the days of beeps and buzzes, answering machines and pagers?  These not-so-old communication and contact methods today rank somewhere among pink princess phones and pulse dialing.  And where we used to wait until we returned home to check our messages, today a missed cell phone call is a rarity.  24/7 accessibility has become literal for many, and I’m tempted to break into dance when a funky ringtone interrupts my grocery shopping.  And while I may be old enough to remember telephone party lines, I have evolved with the instant-communication times.  

Read the rest of this entry »