Top 10 Posts from June

We publish so much content throughout the course of a month, it's easy for articles to get lost in the shuffle. We're implementing a new policy here at RE Technology – at the end of each month, we'll look back and revisit the top 10 most popular articles (based on number of pageviews). Here are the top 10 for the month of June – with a short teaser from each.

1) 8 Marketing Mistakes REALTORS® Should Avoid – by REALTOR.org
REALTORS® spend a lot of time working on their craft, but no one is perfect. It's hard to be the master of every discipline and sometimes REALTORS® make real estate marketing mistakes that could be avoided with a little more time, planning and education. We've compiled a list of eight marketing mistakes REALTORS® should avoid along with suggestions on how to right the ship if you're an offender.

2) 4 Tools to Spice Up Your Real Estate Website – by Emily Williams
If you have an existing real estate website, there are hundreds of tools you can use to add a little spice and consumer-friendly functionality. Because these tools vary in actual implementation, there's no easy term to lump them under. If you have a WordPress website, you're probably familiar with the term "plug-in," and some of our examples are plug-ins – which you may be able to add all by yourself. However, this isn't always the case and, depending on the tool, you may hear them referred to as "widgets" or "APIs." The bottom line is that, even though most of these tools will probably require the assistance of a competent developer for implementation, this technology can be relatively quick and easy to get up-and-running, offering a nice cost/benefit balance.

3) 3 Ways to Prospect Like a Pro – by IXACT Contact
Some real estate sales professionals who work in the industry for a few years achieve moderate success, but eventually hit a bottleneck and can't seem to take their business to the next level. Many think they could do it if they had more clients. But if you're a single real estate sales person, there's a limit to how many clients you can properly serve simultaneously. The problem isn't so much lack of clients as your ability to close the ones you have now.

4) Lighten Up: Streamline Your Home Office – by HomeFinder.com
So many real estate agents work mostly or exclusively in home offices. While we can't lessen your workload (and don't want to – keep on selling!) we want to offer you some tips to eliminate the unnecessary clutter from your desk and inbox to help you move through your business day more efficiently. Coupled with the longer summer days, lightening up your workspace sounds like the perfect solution for smarter working and more play!

5) 10 Golden Rules of Social Media Marketing – by Emily Williams
There's so much to read about social media, so many "experts" spouting daily advice. I don't know about you, but I get tired of it all and a little overwhelmed. So, I'm taking on an intimidating task today, I'm going to try to boil it all down into 10 golden rules that I see most often. Feel free to add onto my list in the comments section below.

6) Infographic: the Price is Right – by RET Staff & IMSD
Our friends at ActiveRain and Market Leader created this gorgeous infographic to demonstrate where real estate agents are spending their money – and where it should be going. Data for the infographic came from a survey of more than 2,000 real estate agents as well as information from the 2012 National Association of REALTORS® Member survey.

7) Leigh Brown's Top 5 Answers to Client Objections – by Homes.com
Leigh Brown, the self proclaimed, "No B.S. Realtor," joined Secrets of Top Selling Agents sponsored by Homes.com last month and spoke about Real and Powerful Buyer/Seller Scripts and Dialogues for Today's Market. During the webinar, which you can still watch here, Leigh Brown suggested responses to common client objections during the real estate process. This webinar is insightful, yet entertaining, and if you don't have time to watch, just take a look below – we have provided you a list of common objections and answers from Leigh Brown's presentation.

8) 7 Things I've Learned in a Year of Real Estate Technology – by Emily Williams
Today I realized that I have been writing about real estate technology for one year. As cliché as it sounds, time truly has flown by; it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting down with Victor Lund and trying desperately to understand this mysterious thing called "IDX." Being the sentimental fool that I am, anniversaries like this always cause me to reflect back on the things I've learned. Considering I came into this job with literally ZERO real estate experience, I've learned a lot.

9) Using Facebook Timeline for Your Real Estate Business – by Lone Wolf
Stefanie Setacci from Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies discusses how to maximize your Facebook page for your real estate business. Utilize features such as highlighting a post or creating a milestone. Learn how to differentiate your real estate business from your competitors.

10) Choosing a Valuation Tool: CMA vs. AVM – by Emily Williams
With so many technologies available to real estate agents today, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the terminology and the options. You can hardly determine which technology to choose, let alone how to use it once you've made your choice. Whenever you have these sorts of questions, your broker and your peers can be great resources. But so can we! That's why we're going to continue our trend of comparing product types and explaining different vendors for each. We started along these lines with our comparison of transaction management vs. document management, and today we'll continue with CMAs and AVMs.