Just got in from the Inman Conference which in my opinion is a must for todays online real estate agent.
The most important aspect was the networking. There were plenty of elbows to rub and lots of relationships to make.
If they gave at an award for conference networker, the statue would go to Michael Stark of PostYourProperty.com for sure. I bet that guy picked up a hundred link exchanges as well as future referrals. He is a testament at what you can do at a conference of this magnitude.
I guess I just added a one way link to his site :-)
Realty Blogs, Websites and Economists
One featured guest was a representative from Curbed.com. It was interesting, but I wish Inman would have had an actual Realtor talking about how he or she makes money from their blog.
I mean isn't this just an exercise in futility if no one make any money? It reminds me of the early net boom years when agents got a website for a websites sake.
I harken to my Golden Real Estate Rule: always ask "where is the money?" What is the path to the dollar? That is why we all do this right? (Get the Ten Commandments of Succesful Online Real Estate )
In my mind, a blog can help an agent: get more traffic, more leads, and more authority over his or her marketplace. Blogging is easy. The aforementioned is hard. This is what we do for our clients here at Spider Juice Technologies.
Later my friend Mike Kehoe of Birdview Technologies spoke about their "4 Step System".
I really liked the fact that he actually took the time to analyze and report client results. He illustrated a results chain for conversion. From traffic --> to lead --> to sale. So in other words x% will register as a lead, y % will become a sale. He even gave average cost per click.
If you like, I can ask him to post his outline of his talk as it was most informative. Let me know thru the comments below. I am a big fan of these guys such that I now can sell their products. If you are interested, give us a call for a Free Demo. 310-533-9145
Another aspect that I liked about the show were the forecasts. Of course, the question everyone was asking was "how long can this market sustain itself?" You had an A list of major industry influentials: Earl Lee,President,Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., Steve Ozonian,National Homeownership Executive,Bank of America, Stu Siegel,CEO,eNeighborhoods, Parker Kennedy,CEO,The First American Corporation, Thomas Kunz, President and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC, & Joel Singer Executive Vice President, California Assn of Realtors. Most of the players seemed to agree that there is no reason to see a slowdown other than in heated areas such as here in California.
I think it was Parkert Kennedy who said that he believes that it was a matter of supply and demand. As long as interest rates stay favorable, at worse we will see a soft landing. Of course I have been saying this for three years now that we have real low supply in California, and an ever growing demand. But I am just an SEO/Lead Conversion strategist. He is an economist!
Overall my one day at the show made me wish I had spent all three days there in gorgeous San Francisco.
