Introducing two new workshops to take your real estate business to the next level. Read more…
As a resident of Massachusetts, I admit we do things a little different up here. Yes, we’re the colony that launched the first tea parties. We recently revived them to remind government that we haven’t forgotten our Founding principles . But it looks like the Massachusetts time-machine is going way, way back – at least in the housing industry: The latest REALTOR education class makes one wonder whether Salem Witches will be making a comeback?
During the holidays, most of us are taking some time to slow down, enjoy the season, and recharge the batteries. It’s been a tough year – and next year will likely prove just as tough. But while it’s important to enjoy the festivities and good cheer, don’t forget that January 2 will likely be the most important day of the next twelve months. For REALTORS especially.
Where do most people enjoy the holidays? At home, in their back yards, around their fireplaces. All of which real estate professionals play a part in making special for millions of people. Whether the sun is shining or the snow is falling, REALTORS help make the holidays a little better for families around the world.
November 12 – San Diego, CA – As the National Association of REALTORS Annual Convention opens this week in San Diego, Matthew Ferrara & Company announced the launch of its latest learning service, real estate brainchain (http://www.rebrainchain.com). The new online video learning community features high-quality training lessons for real estate professionals on a broad variety of topics like sales, marketing, technology and management. As easy to use as YouTube, but with real estate specific content, brainchain launches with almost 100 ready-to-learn lessons featuring some of the industry’s top trainers.
“Brainchain changes the paradigm in online learning for REALTORS,” says Matthew Ferrara, CEO of Matthew Ferrara & Company, the parent of brainchain. “In the last two decades, we have repeatedly delivered innovations in real estate training, first by incorporating technology into the classroom, then by creating the industry’s largest delivery system of webinars. We’ll deliver more than 3500 webinars this year alone, but we still don’t think that’s enough availability and affordability for the industry. That’s why we’re introducing real estate brainchain.”
The new platform uses the latest video innovations to change how real estate professionals use the internet to grow their business. While many real estate agents have been using the web to learn for quite some time, “we’re focused on the educational paradigm,” says Derek Deveau, Director of Development for brainchain. “Many agents have attended live webinars online for years; the challenges we’re solving there are to make the content available all the time, and to make them far more exciting than just slide shows and computerized voices. By using a state of the art video studio, we can record and broadcast live, with a higher learning impact. People learn quickly and easily using television today. We’re doing the same thing on the web.” Likewise, Deveau adds, we’re eliminating the scheduling hassles that keep some agents from attending the classes they need at the times they need them.
Brainchain is much more than just online videos, says Ferrara. “As a professional education company, we don’t just create content. We study how people learn and what helps them retain that learning. In most cases, that involves two factors: Learning in discrete amounts of time, and learning when it’s important to solve a problem. With brainchain, most of our lessons are under 10 minutes, so you can pay attention, focus, absorb, and then go apply the learning right away in your business. And since it’s on-demand, our members will watch the lessons they want, when they want it, which creates the motivation to concentrate and acquire the skills. In two decades of training experience, we have seen that students learn more when it’s in small bites and on topics they are really interested in.” Brainchain also adds social networking elements to its platform, creating a true video learning community.
Laura Fisher, Director of Site Development says that brainchain is designed to get members teaching and talking to each other. “The site’s full of extra features. There’s a forum where members can discuss hot topics and share ideas with each other. The Think Tank provides access to the trainers who are in the videos, so students can contact them and ask questions. And every member can blog about how they are using their new skills and knowledge to advance their careers. By combining social network features with high-quality video learning, we’re really creating a skill-development environment that has something for everyone, and lots of new content every day.”
The real estate brainchain platform will launch at NAR with almost 100 learning lessons ranging from “how-to” lessons on technology, social networking and office productivity, to real estate sales lessons on prospecting, farming, staging, pricing, marketing and management. “Brainchain links together great minds, like Martha Webb, Matthew Ferrara, Rich Sands and others. Each has dozens of lessons that can be watched and combined to create new ways of thinking – new “brain chains” – for real estate agents of the future,” Deveau adds. “It’s going to make an amazing amount of knowledge available to the greatest number of people in a format that’s both easy and fun for anyone to use.”
For more information about real estate branching, visit http://www.rebrainchain.com or contact us today.
.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Listen to this radio interview by clicking the play button above.
You can also click the podcast icon to listen in your default mp3 player.
Matthew Ferrara spent the morning with Michael Saunders and Company recently, helping this market-leading firm leverage the latest sales, marketing and technology tools to reach for the future. A prominent member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and a four-decade market leader in Florida luxury real estate, Michael Saunders brought more than 400 agents, managers and staff together for a “Re-Invent Yourself” event that featured a special version of our Secrets of Social Networking to launch the day.
- April 2 – Camp Verde, AZ
- April 15 – Wichita, KS
- April 16 – Overland Park, KS
Our workshop will teach you how to maximize the potential of social networks, including:
- Identifying the “business case” for social networking as a primary prospecting tool
- Examining the research of how modern consumers are using social networking every day
- Creating a plan to use the most important social networks as prospecting platforms like Facebook. LinkedIn, MySpace and other key sites
- Leverage Hispanic social networking sites – like MySpace en Espanol and MiGente to tap into the growing Hispanic marketplace in real estate
- Creating an online presence using key features of social networking – status updates, sharing links, video, testimonials and more
- Develop a Daily Action Plan to update and influence your sphere of influence
- Managing your social networking presence using mobile wireless tools
- Master the the “do’s and don’t’s” of social networking
- Expanding your Sphere of Influence with recommendations and connections
- Replacing traditional “database, mass emailing, postcard mailings and classified ads” with social networking tools
- Developing a short- and long-term sales pipeline with these modern Customer for Life systems
Our flagship keynote program, Real Estate, the Next Generation is designed to strip away all of the old cliches and assumptions about how real estate should be done and prepare brokers for the future. Remember, most brokerage is “broken” today: the proof is in the continuing struggle for profit, the constant scurrying to recruit, the half-baked approaches to training and the futile resistance to technology that pervades most companies today. So Real Estate, the Next Generation was written to expose all of that – and then help the audience leave it all behind.
Real Estate, the Next Generation isn’t about fixing brokerage. It’s about planning to compete in an industry that’s consumer-centric, tech-savvy and quality-focused. It starts by examining the modern buyer and sellers and asking, What do they want and how do they want it? Once brokers identify that the future consumer isn’t anything like the past consumer, they’ll be able to design strategies to be successful in a whole new marketplace.
