I just got back from RETSO this week in Atlanta Georgia. WOW! What a week it was! This is by far the best real estate technology conference I’ve been to yet. There were so many brilliant people speaking transparently about the ever changing industry & world that we live in today.
I was fortunate to room up with my buddy, Kelly Mitchell. What a power house! She hosts a show called Agent Caffeine…every Thursday at 6pm PST. Check it out!
The first day of the conference is always the most exciting because of the anticipation of what to expect. With so many relevant topics, everyone can feel the buzz of excitement…the energy level was high!
Jeff Turner with Zeek Interactive opened up the conference by suggesting that we “unplug” & when we are “plugged in” to have a strategy. This came as a surprise as were attending a Real Estate Technology Conference but with that being said all too often we, real estate agents, don’t have a business plan & chase the shiny objects as they are presented to us at these events.
Jeff shared a story about Linsey Planeta with the OC Real Estate Voice & an agent that she coaches. This agent had a social media strategy but realized he hadn’t sold very much real estate that year. Sound familiar? Linsey helped him get back to the basics by making calls, meeting with people face to face & hosting open houses. Within just a couple months, that agent sold more homes than he had the entire year before. It’s not to say that you should go out & host open houses; it means you need to have a plan. Jeff went onto say that people think they have a strategy but that really it’s just to make X amount of dollars. That is not a strategy.
In between sessions people were migrating through the halls. I had the chance to connect with the Geeky Girls just before Dan Stewart from Happy Grasshopper spoke about “Dedouching” the Sales Process. Dan spoke about how we as consumers don’t want to be sold & can smell it a mile away. His email nurturing system allows agents to stay in touch with their current & past clients by providing a consistent & relevant message that gets response. I’ve personally used this service for the last 6 months & can honestly say its sparked conversations with people who hadn’t replied or even clicked on my previous email campaigns. Cool stuff!
Marc Davidson from 1000Watt Consulting spoke about Disruption.
How the world around us is changing & those of us who embrace the change now will be recognized for disrupting the status quo. He used the Good Life Team as an example by how their brand is received by the public, as a technologically savvy real estate company who wants their community to live a Good Life. As opposed to the big box names that are recognized but just for selling real estate. Big difference.
Marc also gave us insight to some others disruptors, like Task Rabbit & Rapportive (a Gmail plug-in that crawls email addresses for additional information associated to that user. I.e., FB, Twitter, Linked In) I’ve used this plug-in & it has worked wonders for connecting with inquiries that just offer their emails. What resonated with me the most from Marc’s talk was that our industry as we know it today will not be the same in 5 years.
With services like Task Rabbit, consumers can hire out locals to show them around rather than contacting an agent right away. Plus, the local who’s hired isn’t bound by a code of ethics & can say which neighborhoods are quiet, gay & lesbian friendly or the best school districts. That statement alone made me realize that I have some work to do with my branding & showing people why I am important to the community.
What I enjoyed most about Marc’s talk was when he spoke about Alpha Waves. He said the best way to trigger these is by taking a bubble bath. That task was high on the agenda when I finally settled in at home from my trip.
The Following Day
The lineup was just robust as the previous day. Matthew Shadbolt with the Corcoran Group speaking about why Social Media makes us miserable & I unfortunately missed this talk as I stayed up a little too late with some friends that night before. The personal connections are another reason why I loved RETSO. I had the privilege of hanging out some of pretty amazing peeps like: Inna Hardison & Jon Hardison, Suzanne Roy, Jeff Chalmers, Peter Toner, Coleen DeGroff, Kathleen Seide & Kelly Mitchell. These people feel like family to me. As if I’ve known them my entire life, just picking up from where we left off from last time even though we just met.
We talked shop but mostly laughed & enjoyed each other’s company. Connecting with each of these fantastic humans really made me want to learn more about their businesses, how I can support them & promote their hard work. In the end, it’s the relationships that you take the time to build that improve your life. There were many others that I didn’t have the chance to dig into deeper conversations with like Mana Tulberg, Elaine Hanson, Anand Patel, Maura Neill, Derek Overbey, just to name a few. RETSO was about growing my Real Estate Family, one personal connection at a time.
Friday ended with a bang
Daniel Rothamel reminding us that the flame within us will not die once we leave the conference. We are RETSO! We are the ones in this industry that are making & adapting to the constant change & challenges that forced upon us.
I am still buzzing from this conference.
My promise is to continue to raise the bar in this industry by being transparent & consistently sharing my experiences within this ever-changing business we call: Real Estate.
On a personal note…
Now I’m back home in San Diego & happy to be with my loved ones. I missed my husband dearly (it was only 3 days but this man is my bestie)
We met up for lunch at our favorite dive while I inundated him with my entire experience. He listened. He’s such a good listener.
When I finally walked through the door, there was Buddy, happy to see his Mama. Mind you, he hadn’t eaten for a day because he missed me so much. Here’s a picture of him the day I got back.
The cats, Red & May, well they ate of course but as soon as I unpacked they decided, next time they want to come with me. God it’s good to be loved.
I feel for those who travel for business. I don’t know how you do it but thank you for applying & dedicating yourself to this business. It is appreciated.
Excellent post Carol! SO sad that I missed RETSO but really appreciate the recap! The one thing we can say is there are some AWESOME people in this industry!