To understand which mediums are actually working for us or at least moving in the right direction, we need to set a baseline metric for each to start from.  I found a website that can help!  Check out the video to learn more.

I don’t even think the term “light speed” correctly assesses the velocity in which things change with technology.  In a blink of an eye something beyond your control can affect the way you reach your target audience…. when you are playing by someone else’s rules.  Case in point – Facebook.

Facebook basically just dropped a bombshell and instantly changed the way we communicate online with their new newsfeed, timelines, subscriptions and a myriad of other enhancements and updates.  BTW, if you need help or want an overview of these changes Chris Smith and Jimmy Mackin did a wonderful job of detailing them in this post Facebook Changes Everything Are You Ready?. 

For the most part, I love the new features! However, if you have a fan page, you might have noticed a drop off in the amount of interaction you are getting on it.  Facebook said they want to make it easier for people to connect on the web.  Great, what about businesses?  If you are a consistent reader of Tech Savvy Agent chances are you may have missed our last couples posts due to “pages” not appearing in the news feed with the same consistency.  I am not getting the same amount of impressions right now and have to work a little harder to figure out the new lay of the land.  Here are a few posts that talk about the same topic with the last post being an interesting read due to their optimism (I share the same optimism in the end).

1. Recent Facebook Updates Cripple Pages

2. Why Is Facebook Punishing Highly Engaging Brands?

3. What Brands and Marketers Should Pay Attention To on the New Facebook

If your Facebook page was your pseudo website and the main way you communicated with your clients because you haven’t diversified enough, these changes could really hurt your business.  Email, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, Google, SEM, SEO, phone calls, QR codes, texting and print (yes I said it) all need to be used in conjunction with one another to drive people to your home base, which is your self-hosted blog.  That is the only thing that you control!  If Twitter goes away tomorrow and you use other mediums to communicate with your audience, you will still be fine.  If email communication stops working because people are sick and tired of being “dripped on” you’ll be ok.  You cannot afford to put all of your eggs in one basket.  I know there are some really cool Facebook page creation programs out there that do some amazing things, but if your website doesn’t look and perform up to snuff, you need to start there first!  Mark Z. can make any change he wants at anytime and this could negatively impact your business if you are running it off of your fanpage.

Your main objective in your marketing has to be to drive people to your site and give supply them with a ton of quality content that will make them want to come back.  Real estate is no longer a short term transactional game, but a long term relationship building process that relies on your web presence more than ever.  Your self hosted blog is the only thing that you can have almost 100% control over.  That is where your time needs to be spent first.

I don’t doubt everything is going to be ok for Facebook pages and Mark Zuckerberg will come out with a cool timeline feature for pages too, but it just goes to show you how little control you have in this platform or any other one for that matter.  Long live your self hosted blog!

When planning your travel and training budget for next year, try to take into account a few the following options.  I won’t touch on your particular brand conferences or NAR, which are also great options, but rather talk about 3 great non brand specific options out there, and best of all, at some point through out the year they are likely to be with in driving distance from your office.

1. Inman’s Agent Reboot – As I said, I had the pleasure of seeing this for about the 3rd time this year this past week in Columbus OH. The reboot tour does a great job of traveling across the country and making the information they provide accessible to just about everyone as they will more than likely end up in a place that is a one day trip away.  Reboot, is MC’ed by the former Tech Savvy Agent himself Mr. Chris Smith so you know they are bringing value.  This week’s even covered such topics as Online Reputation Management, Video, Mobile, Web, Lead Capture, A/B Testing and much more  (check out #agentrb on twitter to see the stream from this past week, so much great info to share I left with blisters from tweeting so much). I think one of the best things about Reboot is the quality of speaker and the level of expertise they provide.  Speakers this week included: Chris Smith (Inman News), Darin Persinger (Productivity Junkies), The main TSA Man Mr. Steve Pacinelli, Sherry Chris (Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate), Sean Carpenter (@seancarp on Twitter and The Realtors Toolbox Blog) and many more.  Agent Reboot is a great choice if you want to learn whats working across the country and hear from some of the best in the industry for a very affordable price.  Tickets to the event in Columbus were $49.

2. Xplode Conference – What makes Xplode really cool and unique to other traveling tech shows is the fact that they partner with local vendors, MLS’s, and Associations as well as speakers on a national and international level.  This really adds a unique local feel while still receiving top notch content from national speakers.  I was fortunate enough to attend Xplode this year in Washington DC and outside of the traffic jam on my way to the airport it was great.  They even offer a VIP pass which gives you prime seating, electric and premium high-speed  internet so you can easily digitally capture and even implement some of the strategies that were discussed before you even leave the event!  If you ever have the chance to attend an explode event, I would encourage you to do so.

3. Max Pigman & Tech Savvy Agent - Did you know that Tech Savvy Agent aka Steve Pacinelli has his own event in addition to appearances on other major national stages.  Well now you do! The folks as Move Inc. have a traveling tech event anchored by National Speaker Max Pigman in the morning and Steve covering the afternoon.  Having helped design some of the content for these shows in the past, I can tell you the quality is top notch.  The difference maker for the “Real Estate Series” events is that a lot of the content is live, no powerpoint!  That’s right, there are step by step live instructions for the strategies discussed and they are FREE to attend. Free? Yes Free. The events are usually co-sponsored by Top Producer and Realtor.com and as such there is no cost to attend. Generally before each break the sponsors will take 5 minutes to feature a product.  Now I know what you’re thinking, this is probably one of those timeshare deals with a hard core sales pitch. Negative. The sales guys do a nice job of showing you how their products can help augment some of the great new tech you have learned throughout the day and you are free to take them up on the offer or pass.

So now that you have a better feel for whats out there, take advantage. Head out to the sites (linked in this post) and find the next show in your part of the world.  If you have been to one of these shows please leave your comments below.

In closing, I have one piece of advice for you tech training novices: Commit to implementing 3 things after the show.  You will undoubtedly learn more than 10 things that will help your business at each one of these shows, however implementation is key! Pick the 3 best and go for it. By choosing only a few, you will increase your chances of success exponentially.

Guest post by Greg Grospitch. Follow Greg on twitter @greggrospitch

The first one is pretty simple.  Just go to http://www.googleplussearchengine.com and type in a topic.

This is pretty cool because it allows you to refine your search to “posts” or “profiles” so you can find people or open conversations about any topic.

The second way to run searches within Google plus is through a Chrome extension.  This one is a little more labor intensive to set up, but makes it pretty easy to run searches once finished  if you are a Chrome user - How to search for Google+ profiles and posts 

BTW, the website above is called http://googleplus.wonderhowto.com and it rocks as it has a plethora of cool tips for Google+.

That’s it!  Short post today as I am in Hawaii for Agent Reboot and need to get down there to learn more from my colleagues so I can bring you guys the goods!