Florida realtors gather to discuss ‘jungle’ market strategies

With property prices falling and interest rates rising, South Florida realtors may feel like it’s a jungle out there.

That’s why the Florida Association of Realtors is using a safari theme to market this year’s Broker/Manager Profitability Conference, a free day educational training seminars on June 23 at the Marriott Orlando Airport.

“What will you do to survive? The ‘same old thing’ isn’t cutting it. What’s required are bold initiatives, aggressive recruitment, merging or acquiring niche companies, and fighting for every point of the market share,” said Steven David, CRB, owner/broker of Florida Professional Real Estate, an independent real estate company in Fort Lauderdale.

David will join featured presenters such as Baker & Hostetler attorney James Mitchell, Amerivest Holdings CEO Joe Ballarino and others who will share their insights on the state of the market and how realtors can survive and thrive.

“This is a standing room only event,” said Marla Martin, a spokesperson for the Florida Association of Realtors. “Realtors are coming to discover tips for succeeding in today’s market, as well as to learn about new business models and trends that are impacting the industry. This is timely given the market conditions.”

Generational expert John Ansbach will present “General Dynamics: Using Age Diversity to Drive Profitability.” He’ll teach attendees about the values and preferences of Civics, Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers and Millennials, and how to tailor their service, marketing and branding messages to resonate with each generation of consumers.

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Not-yet tech-savvy realtors may benefit from “Search Engine Marketing” with Kristen Veraldi, co-founder of Kinetick Knowledge, an application service provider that provides blogging software for realtors.

The Web, and blogs in particular, she said, gives realtors an opportunity for effective, inexpensive marketing means. In fact, Veraldi will use an interactive blog to manage session content and invite real-time session commentary. She’ll also be inviting questions via text messaging.

“With discipline, blogs can be the most cost-effective online marketing mechanism available,” Veraldi said. “At the same time they are also an effective means for quickly and efficiently distributing content privately within your organization or directly to your sphere of influence.”

Brokers who need help with personal branding can attend Larry Mersereau’s “Stand Out! The Power of Your Brand.” And Cliff Perotti, author of “The Real Estate Entrepreneur” will talk about “The Law of Attraction and Your Real Estate Business,” playing off the popularity of the best-selling book “The Secret.”

Wrapping up the day-long event, realtors David, Laurie Neiman, and Steve Reibel will take a tag team approach to teaching about mergers, acquisitions and exit strategies, and Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) Commissioner Matey Veissi and Mitchell will discuss risk management and how to survive an FREC audit.