Blog.AAROnline.com » Phil Sexton

My #NARAnnual

Phil Sexton — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:00:56 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

First I learn about technology tools. Then I filter based on practicality and usefulness. Next I implement for myself or my boss. Finally I teach others about that process. a.k.a. I'm the Marketing Director for Realty ONE Group

Photo courtesy of Flickr user (and AAR blog contributor) Bill Risser

The 2011 National Association of REALTORS® Conference and Expo was held in Anaheim, CA this year; a good time as usual. Anaheim is an excellent place for large events, and I know more than one person took advantage of the fact that it was right next to Disneyland! As is true every year, my favorite part is walking / talking with other attendees. Whether it’s your friends from other companies, online networking contacts you hardly get face time with, or vendor reps that you’ve never met, the face-to-face (F2F) interactions make this event worth going.

Theme Show

Each year I try to identify a single theme – some common string that runs through the booths, classes and hallway conversations. In my opinion, this was a continuation from last year. It’s no surprise that mobile is once again the front runner. People are still learning how to use their mobile devices in more useful ways. In fact, mobile devices have multiplied; bring on the tablets!

Tablets and Phones

Saturday morning I attended a session on using tablets and mobile devices in real estate. Amy Chorew and Ginger Wilcox lead the discussion in front of a jam-packed room. The room held hundreds and was bursting at the seems. Ginger started by painting a picture of the 2011 home buyer.

They pull up in front of a home for sale and pull out their iPad or smart phone. If they can’t see interior pictures within five minutes, they are frustrated. Five minutes is a LONG time to sit in front of a house waiting for more information.

I get it. I also get that some agents don’t know how to make “mobile friendly” information. It’s hard enough to keep up with the desktop web, let alone the mobile web. Ginger continued by addressing the question she gets asked the most.

Do I Need an App?

No, REALTORS® do not need an app. However, you should make sure that your website is mobile friendly. Do you know what your site looks like on a mobile device? I hope you’ve tried to check it out on your smart phone, BlackBerry* or iPad.

Visit howtogomo.com for tips on having a mobile-friendly site and to see what your site looks like on an Android.

Shiny App Syndrome

Ginger and Amy went through their list of handy apps. They both referenced the fact they have shiny app syndrome and have been know to download apps that never get used. For the sake of time, they filtered their apps list to the handy ones for real estate agents.

You’ve probably heard of the big ones like Dropbox, Skype, Twitter and Facebook. Here are some of the ones they mentioned that are lesser known:

Expensify – track expenses, take pictures of receipts
Milebug – track your mileage via GPS
Magic Plan – build a floor plan from photos (iPhone only)
My Measures – get dimensions of an object by taking a picture

Walking the Expo

As I mentioned before, no new trend stood out this year. Mobile advertising is still here – although there weren’t as many billboard-sized QR codes. Paperless file management is still being perfected by several different technology companies. Leads for purchase are everywhere. Banks are continuing their “but wait, we’re friendly” campaigns. All in all, nothing jumped out with the WOW factor. I did notice the foot massage booth stepped it up by adding a body shaker. I’ll spare you the ridiculous video.

FB 2 F2F

The next morning included peer-to-peer sessions. I chose Dale Chumbley’s Facebook talk. Dale is Facebook famous for starting the “365 Things to Do in [insert your city]” page trend and engaging his audience in creatively simple ways. After listening to his presentation, it’s no wonder he gets 50% of his business from social networking. Feel free to borrow:

“Crazy Things I See When Showing Homes!”

See something crazy when out with clients? Snap a photo and upload it to Facebook. This is a creative way to remind your friends that you are a REALTOR® that can help them buy a house too. Much better than using the line, “I’m a REALTOR® that can help you buy a house.” This picture is classic.

“What Is It?”

Do you like using photo distortion apps on your phone? Dale will modify a picture and ask his friends to guess what it is. I think it’s a fun way to keep people engaged. Can you identify this one without reading the comments?

Happy Birthday Videos

Have you ever wished a friend a happy birthday by writing on their FB wall? Yes. Were you 1 of 100? Yes. So… what are you going to do to stand out? Dale turns on the web cam and wishes his friends a happy birthday via video. As long as you have a web cam, it’s simple to post a video message within Facebook. Try it. If you don’t like watching yourself on video – don’t! Just post the message and continue on with your day. Start doing this today before it becomes the norm.

Even though Dale networks online better than you and I, his overall goal is still to meet people offline – a.k.a. in the real world. Facebook is a great way to communicate, but getting F2F is much better for business.

I like to stress the importance / significance of face time because so often I get wrapped up in all the techno-tools that I forget to mention what a lot of these tools are actually trying to accomplish: make our lives easier, make our businesses more productive or improve our relationships with others.

All in all, it was a great conference / expo. Thanks for reading!

*Okay, okay. BlackBerry phones are smart phones too.

Facebook Pages Roundtable

Phil Sexton — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:12:06 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

“People don’t wake up and go to your company website every day.” This is one of my favorite quotes about the growing number of businesses using Facebook to connect with clients. At AAR’s Broker/Manager Conference in May, I had a chance to moderate two roundtable sessions on Facebook for real estate firms. Here are my notes and a few thoughts.

Separate pages and profiles in your mind.

Profile = Person, Page = Business. Profile = Person, Page = Business. A person creates a profile to interact within Facebook. Through your profile, you can create a business page. Your profile becomes the default administrator of the business pages you create. Administrators can edit/delete the page and post updates, links, pictures and videos as the page.

Profiles have friends; pages have likes.

Your personal profile can be friends with other personal profiles. Two actions are required to accomplish this: friend request and then acceptance. A personal profile cannot be friends with someone who does not accept the friend request.

Profiles can like business pages. One action is required; click the Like button. There is no acceptance that needs to happen on the business’s side.

Remember that once the Like button is clicked, it will no longer be visible on that page.

What happens when I like a page?

Liking a page means you have subscribed to that page’s updates. You have just told Facebook that it’s okay to allow the page’s updates to show in your general news feed. This is the main feed that is displayed when you first log in to Facebook. It shows all the happenings of your friends, family and other pages you like.

How do I get people to like my page?

The million-dollar question! You’ll start with the low-hanging fruit: ask the friends of your personal profile. Then the creative, strategic, consistent work comes into play. It is not an automatic fountain of business. Bottom-line: You want to continuously create content that engages your fans. Do not use Facebook as a megaphone to broadcast your corporate message.

Keep in mind this is social media. You want to be personable with your likers. Ask them questions, help each other out, post pictures and videos. If you have fun with it, people will like it.

Should I post my listings to my page?

Broad-stroke answer: Don’t do it. Are there exceptions? Yes.

There are a lot of vendors out there that will auto-post your listings to Facebook. This is using it as a megaphone and is not recommended. It’s okay to celebrate successes. It’s okay to be excited about a feature/picture/amenity of a listing.

Golden Facebook Rule

Treat your likers and/or friends the way you want to be treated. Be the company you want to like. Be the person you want to friend. If you’re not sure what I mean, then use Facebook for a few more months before creating a page for your business.

Other notes from the session:

Create Facebook friend lists to easily share information with certain groups of people.
Google how to do things you see other people doing. (There are lots of tutorials out there!)
Tag friends and pages in status updates.
Facebook.com/help is a great resource.

From New Forms to MARS Disclosures

Phil Sexton — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:36:55 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

I can’t believe AAR’s Winter Conference is next week! Time flies. Hopefully you’re signed up and plan on attending. I’ll be there Thursday, doing the up (from Phoenix) and back thing – can’t stay the night. I’m not writing to share my schedule though. I’m writing because as close as we are to the conference, I’m surprised the buzz about “Hot Topic” predictions just took a 180 degree turn. New forms and contracts seem so simple now that the MARS disclosure questions have begun.

At yesterday’s Tempe office meeting Jim Sexton, Designated Broker of John Hall & Associates, went through the 4 new MARS disclosure forms for short sale listing agents. Wow. (Stay tuned for the cover story of this month’s AZ REALTOR® Magazine for additional info.)

Given the amount of discussion that took place at our meeting, coupled with the stunned looks on the faces of our agents, my bet is Jim, Michelle Lind, and Commissioner Lowe will address more questions and comments regarding MARS than they will about the forms.

See you next Thursday.

Protecting Client’s Private Information

Phil Sexton — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:29:59 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

Check out AAR’s sample Broker Privacy Policy.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne on Identity Theft from Vimeo

We all know Arizona ranks high on the list of reported identity theft incidents. According to last year’s FTC Report, we’re the second-highest state in the country (behind Florida) for reported identity theft crimes. It’s up to us to protect ourselves and our client’s private information.

Shred Paper

A simple step you can take is to shred any unneeded documents that contain confidential information. In fact Dru Bloomfield and the Attorney General regularly post information on shred-a-thons. Some are free; some are fundraisers. Either way, destroying documents you no longer need is a good habit to develop.

Password Protect Mobile Phones and Laptops

If you have unrestricted access to email on your laptop or mobile phone, you may be putting you or your clients at risk. In the event a client has emailed you a short sale hardship package or rental application, it’s now up to you to keep that info secure. Password protecting your devices is simple.

Mobile Phone Security

If you’d like to take your phone’s security to the next level, there are security apps available for download. On my Android-powered phone, I use Lookout Mobile Security. It’s a freemium app that’s available for Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices. The Pro version is $30/year, and it’ll allow you to lock, wipe or locate your device remotely if it’s lost or stolen. (Some features are marked Android-only.)

I searched for a mobile security app that our Mac friends can use but came up short. Besides some gimmicky fingerprint scanners or full-blown enterprise solutions, I couldn’t find any. If you are an iPhone, iPad or iTouch user, we’ve solicited some feedback from the top Mac minds in this post on Facebook.

What other measures are you taking to keep your client’s confidential information secure? Do you talk about your privacy measures during listing appointments or buyer consultations?

Building Trust and Credibility with People

Phil Sexton — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:52:32 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

When I hear the words trust and credibility, I immediately think I’m in a conversation about search engine optimization. (Don’t worry; this post isn’t going there.) Instead, I’d like to pass along a tip to help you build trust and credibility with actual people (!) rather than search bots.

This is one I learned from Gerri Bara, a REALTOR® in Chandler. She linked her public ADRE profile from the “Bio” page on her website. Now her web visitors have one-click access to:

Verify she has an active real estate license
See the continuing education classes she’s completed
See any open complaints
Review past disciplinary actions

As long as your RAP sheet is clean, it’s a pretty cool thing to do.

To access your public ADRE profile, search here.

I Heart “Search Stories”

Phil Sexton — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:00:36 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

I am a fan of short, fast-paced videos that are interesting to watch. I am NOT a fan of video editing because it’s time consuming and tedious. So when I attended a class taught by Justin McHood at Scottsdale Camp and he showed an example of a short, fast-paced video that he created with no video editing, my interest was piqued.

The first thing I did after the class was head over to youtube.com/searchstories to make a video for John Hall & Associates. Then I thought it would make a good post for this blog too, so I spent about 15 minutes making this video for AAR:

All you have to do to create your own masterpiece is:

Type up to six search queries and pick what you’d like to search (News, Blogs, Maps, Books, Web, Images).
Pick one of the 30-ish sound track options.
Push ‘Create Video.’

The tool does EVERYTHING else to create the video. Once it’s done, you can preview the creation, give it a title and description, and upload it to your YouTube channel. Done.

I am a huge fan of tools that make it simple to create interesting content. If you make a video for your business or association, post a link in the comments below!

Related Content:

Dru Bloomfield’s Search Story

Justin McHood’s Search Story

Animoto is another no-edit video tool

BlackBerry Class for REALTORS® #technopalooza

Phil Sexton — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:32:18 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

Photo courtesy of Flickr user edans

Did you make it to ARMLS Technopalooza in Glendale, AZ last month? I went for one main reason – to learn how to use my BlackBerry. ARMLS brought in national mobile phone expert William James to explain the ins and outs of BlackBerry smart phones. Even though the room was (capital p) Packed, I was happy to secured a square on the floor against the wall.

I’ve been a BlackBerry user for about a year, so I know enough to be dangerous. I can call, email, add events to the calendar and Google stuff, but I was ready to learn more. Oddly enough, I can compare this to snowboarding. After about seven years of snowboarding, I decided to take a lesson. Even though I knew how to ride, the lesson took me to the next level by teaching me better techniques. The same thing happened with my BlackBerry. William James shared tips on how to navigate the phone faster and phone maintenance tips that make the BlackBerry process information faster.

One thing I really liked about his presentation is that he told the class where we could download his presentation and handouts, so we weren’t all frantically scribbling notes. (Find them at www.pdapowerplus.com.) He has sections on his website for the Android, iPhone, Palm Pre and Palm Treo too. I’m not going to re-publish his entire handout in this article, but I’ll share the shortcuts and maintenance tips I found helpful.

I’ll start with maintenance tips.

1. Clean out the browsers’ temporary memory on a monthly basis.

To do this: Go into the Browser – push the menu button – select Options – select Cache Operations – clear all the options – then push the escape button (it’s the back button – has a sideways u-turn arrow) - and it’ll say “cleaning memory”. Done.

2. Reset your phone on a monthly basis.

Straight from his handout:

“Remove the battery for five seconds and replace. This will refresh the device memory as well as the connection to the wireless carrier. This step may improve overall device speed, signal quality and data speed.”

3. Clean out your inbox.

William says don’t use your BlackBerry to store all emails – just the important ones. Save the messages you want to keep on your phone by highlighting it – menu – save. Once you’ve saved the ones you want to keep, go to a recent dateline in the inbox – push Menu – Delete Prior. It will erase all messages prior to that date from your inbox, keeping the messages you marked Save in a separate place. To access your saved messages, from your inbox – menu – View Saved Messages.

Now on to the useful shortcuts.

1. Typing Capital Letters

To do this: simply hold down the letter for one second. It automatically turns into a capital letter.

2. Typing the ®

To do this: when typing a message, hold down the letter r and roll the trackball. This also works for ñ, ©, ™, as well as accents.

3. Selecting Menu Items

Instead of rolling the trackball, type the first letter in the desired menu item. Let’s take ‘Close’ for example: from an application, push menu - C – select. (Note: If there are multiple menu items that start with C, you may have to push C more than once. )

Bonus: Extend your battery life.

The display screen is one of the biggest battery users on the phone. To help reduce the load, we can dim the back light.

To do this: From the desktop, select Options (the icon looks like a wrench on my phone; when you highlight the correct icon, it will say Options at the bottom of the screen) - Screen/Keyboard – Backlight Brightness - desired brightness. (I have mine set at 30 instead of 100.)

So there you have it, my takeaways from the session. If you have helpful BlackBerry tips or tricks you’d like to share, let’s hear ‘em!

What is Slydial.com?

Phil Sexton — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:15:20 +0000

Posts by "Phil Sexton" http://realtyonegroup.com

I learned a good one at Pat Zaby’s class on Wednesday at AAR’s Winter Conference. Pat is a CRS instructor and an excellent presenter. Towards the end of his three-hour class, Pat started to go over some helpful websites. Slydial.com was one that was new to me.

The concept is simple: use Slydial to go directly into someone’s voicemail. It bypasses the ringing part of calling someone. It bypasses the ringing part of calling someone? Yes, when you enter the mobile phone number of the person you’re calling, it automagically goes right to their voicemail message allowing you to leave a message.

Pat Zaby joked about using it to break up with your significant other, but there are definitely some business applications. I was talking with a couple of agents that said it’s great if you want to call clients early in the morning or late at night. You may have information to share, but you don’t want to ring their phone. As Slydial.com says, you can use it when you’re short on time, don’t want to bother someone or when a text message just won’t cut it.

I’m not sure everyone that reads this will run out there and start using it, but I think it’s important to know this type of tool exists. Now when my phone buzzes with a voicemail and no missed call shows, I wonder…

Slydial.com is free for you and I to use, with no registration. All you need is the phone number 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425). When you call it, it asks for the phone number you would like to slydial, then connects you to their voicemail. Pretty slick.