REIQ Journal

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P A G E 3 1 R E I Q J O U R N A L | J U N E 2 0 1 6
F E A T U R E
What to Use
Our agency prides itself on being
technologically savvy, and on not
only being ahead of the curve in
implementation but on being on the
‘bleeding edge’. For me, that means
asking to be a beta tester for real estate-
related technology from companies
worldwide. This also requires knowing
what’s going on in real estate in the
United States, Australia and New
Zealand, as well as what’s on the
forefront in Europe and Asia.
There are a number of resources
available on the web to gather relevant
information. I use the app, Feedly,
as an aggregator for Technology and
Content Marketing information from
all over the web. What’s important
to me are security issues - scams,
phishing - that may affect my agents’
safety; emerging technology that’s
starting to catch mainstream notice;
changes to major online platforms,
like Facebook, that may need to be
communicated to others; and new
ideas for marketing that could easily
be used in the real estate space to
create a point of difference.
I also use LinkedIn groups and
Facebook groups to monitor what’s
first and foremost on US agents’
minds, especially in our “local” area,
as well as what seems to be more
common issues (and solutions) across
the real estate industry.
This information I can email directly
to agents (we use Contactually as our
agency-wide CRM, and I personally
use the MixMax plugin for Gmail
for templates, email scheduling
and tracking) to turn into training
for agents through Google Drive.
While you can create information
in suites like Microsoft Office, I
prefer Google Drive for its analytics
and easy shareability. I can convert
Google Drive links into easy links to
share using link shorteners such as
and For information
that’s “open to anyone” many trainers
also use LinkedIn’s Pulse blogging
platform and Slideshare to make their
information more widely available.
Sometimes, you really need to
communicate face-to-face. When
I need to have a one-on-one or
smaller group conversation with my
clients and agents, I use Skype or
Google Hangouts. For larger training
sessions, like my weekly trainings
with the C21 Redwood agents, I use
GoToWebinar. It’s an upgrade from
GoToMeeting and, while somewhat
pricey, provides a lot of the same
features you would have in a “live”
training session. People can raise
hands, ask questions publicly or
privately, be communicated with
as a group or one-on-one, have
documents sent to them during the
training, take polls and surveys,
and can either watch a person live
on-screen or a screenshare of a
computer. As a trainer, you can also
hand off your screenshare to others
on the webinar, and have guest
panelists who can present in tandem
with you. Recently, my agents on the
East Coast of the United States took
a tour of the National Association of
REALTORS® Center for REALTOR®
Technology Lab in Chicago, Illinois,
which I facilitated from our kitchen
benchtop in Brisbane!
One of the features of GoToWebinar
we use most is the ‘Record’ function.
Once the webinar has finished, I have
the opportunity to download the
recording of the webinar and upload
it to wherever I want to host it. You
can host it on your own YouTube
channel or with a very video-oriented
company like Wistia. That recording
link I place on a Google Doc. All of
our recording links are found on that
one Google Doc, and with one click,
it’s accessible to all of our agents,
24/7. After three years, we’ve created
quite a ‘knowledgebase’ of tutorials
and information. Another feature
that many trainers would appreciate
is the ability to see who signed up
and who attended, along with their
email addresses. Other sites I know
of that other trainers use include
, WebEx, AnyMeeting and
MeetingBurner.
Some trainers take things a step
further, and incorporate more video
and active participation in their
trainings. Many set “office hours” and
sessions up on Periscope and using
Facebook Live to attract a wider
audience, and to address and answer
real-time questions. If you’re trying
to coordinate across different time
zones, I use ‘The Clock’ Mac app on
my computer, and both Circa and
Synchronize apps on my iPhone.
(If you’re using Windows, you can
try World Clock, and if you’re on
an Android, the World Clock and
Widget app should do the trick.)
There’s no excuse not to be a trainer
to whomever you want, wherever they
are. With the right technological tools
and a strong WiFi signal, you’re able to
reach clients worldwide. And, if you’re
looking to learn from the best across
the globe, you’ve got no excuses!
To learn more about Century 21
Redwood Realty, visit
. Tara can
be found at
and at .