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As a NAWRB Chairwomen, I enjoy attending real estate conferences around the country. I decide which one rises to the top every year. Since it is only February, one might call me bold to claim Inman Real Estate Connect New York is the best conference of 2015, but it will be hard to top.
The speakers on the panels were superb. They were leaders in their fields, but more importantly, they covered diverse areas of business. Brad Inman, the publisher of Inman News, started day one proclaiming that his goal for the 2015 conference was to attract the brightest and most innovative people with expertise outside of real estate. He wanted the panelists’ advice to cross-over into innovative business development for real estate professionals. In other words, he wanted to force attendees to “think outside of the box” in real estate. Inman’s idea was supported by Mike Ferry who stated that most real estate agents rarely take advice from sources outside their circle of influence, which limits growth and
innovation. I believe Brad Inman reached his goal. This conference transformed my business perspective and opened my eyes to new growth opportunities.
There was so much valuable information; I recommend visiting Inman Connect’s website to watch some of the videos. Below, I have summarized some of the advice from my top panelists I had the pleasure of hearing.
Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Reddit, was an energetic speaker and comes from a startup IT background. His advice was relevant to how technology impacts business, whether you are ready for it or not. He stressed one needs to integrate a technology plan into a business marketing strategy. Ohanian recommended “paying it forward” by joining chat rooms and sharing free advice within your specialty to attract new customers. He went on to say that you should meet them at their location instead of bringing them to you or your site.
Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of News Corp, sees a 41 percent increase in the real estate market with Millennials turning 30 and the real estate industry being streamlined across America with technological growth. Both brick and mortar, and Internet/technology companies can coexist without conflict. Agents are vital to a real estate transaction as buying property is still a personal choice.
News Corp bought Realtor.com; at its core, Realator.com is an information platform and people will always need information. Internet marketing is different than Internet branding. Google’s model for search advertising works well and yet social media advertising does not, as it is a branding vehicle. Optimize your outreach by carefully playing to your platform strengths in utilization.
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NAWRB Media Outreach Chairwoman, Renee Marie Smith, Esq. is an 18 year real estate industry expert.