Dear Readers,
I love winter. All three months of it. I appreciate the change in weather, the holiday season and a chance to slow down from the dead run of the summer sales season.
Some may be surprised just how seasonal our market is here in College Station.
This is a chart depicting Total Monthly Sales for the last three years (minus Dec 2009 which hasn't been released yet). Click the image for a full-size chart.
This is a chart of Units Sold for the same period. Of course, there is a pattern.
Winter is also a good time to evaluate what the business did right and how to mature. I usually spend the fall finishing up the summer's work and reflecting. After the Christmas decorations come down, it's time to get to work in preparation for the summer.
Today, I'm going to talk about one of the two areas of emphasis.
Technology
First, I've always been a believer in working technology, with emphasis on "working." I've been in the business long enough now to know what technology really works, and what is just a black hole where time and data disappear forever.
I'll be implementing more comprehensive traditional and social marketing tools to expand our base on the Web and through mobile devices. I already have a strong presence on facebook and twitter both professionally and personally. I've already expanded our twitter presence to include our first "green" feed, @bcsgreenliving, and a new marketing presence @mediafrontier. Both will expand to the Web this spring.
In addition to our primary Website, SamWhiteRealty.com, I'll continue to add niche sits such as FoxRunCondo.com & BCSHomes.info, as well as more individual property sites.
All of my Websites are transitioning to new servers, with a cleaner, less clunky, interface and expanded search capabilities for both clients and customers. All of our information and data will be available in a mobile format. We also know that many of our clients use Safari (especially the mobile version) and Firefox, as well as google Chrome, and site design will now take this into account.
We'll also continue to expand the the many ways our clients communicate with us. Using google's business platform you can reach us through sms text, voicemail, email, chat. We can also share documents and calendars that contain important information about our transactions, all in a secure manner. In fact, we have all of the pieces in place for a paperless, or near paperless, transaction.
One of our strongest communication tools is Go To Meeting, which plays a vital part in the greening of my company. There will be a lot more information on how I use Go To Meeting in a coming post.
Finally, I'm spending much of my winter in training, both on the Web and in person, to make sure that we are on top of the latest marketing and technology trends. I think sometimes local Realtors forget that we are home to Texas A&M University, and that some of the brightest minds in the world move to, and through, College Station and Bryan. My clients deserve a 21st century real estate firm along with 21st. century service. As one friend said over the holidays, "We aren't just some old cow college, anymore."
Of course I'll keep doing what I've been doing, updating the latest market information at MarketReports.SamWhiteRealty.com and supporting our local market and community. You can look for part two in this series on Thursday.
Blue skies,
Sam White
sam@samwhiterealty.com
979-589-4478 google voice and text
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