Matthew Ferrara & Company
 

The following articles have been written and compiled over the past 24 months. The majority of the articles have been written by Matthew J. Ferrara, President and CEO of Matthew Ferrara & Company. Many of the articles below have been published in industry publications. Matthew is a syndicated columnist, visiting editor, and subject matter expert for many of the nations leading real estate technology publications.

The Other Google

By now, every real estate professional knows the power of Google. Need to find something on the web? Go to google.com and type it in. Don’t worry about spelling (it suggests corrections if you mistype) and just use normal language. In nanoseconds, more pages than you could ever click are presented for your perusal. The same approach applies to Google News, Google’s Froogle shopping area, pictures, blogs, you name it. Search and find. And that, most of us think, is what Google is all about. » Full article...

Technology: Sales or Marketing?

 A recurring theme I'm hearing lately from some clients is that they are in need of a "system" 

 that they can use to "automatically" prospect their new and past clients.

 You know, a database or something with some sort of "drip marketing" campaign tools. Isn't

there something like that, where I can just put my clients into it and 'forget it' while it keeps sending stuff to them. » Full article...

 

Outlook 2007: Cool Tools at Last
Fourth time is a charm, at least for Microsoft’s latest upgrade to its ubiquitous Office suite. Since 1997, computer users worldwide have trusted their work to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. A decade of editions – from Version 97 to the latest Office 2007 has promised to be easier, faster and cooler. And each time, some functions – like previewing printouts before wasting paper - got a little easier, while other features – like the dreaded mail merge – became almost impossible. Maybe this time, Microsoft got it right? Well, let’s just see.» Full article...
Mobile Marketing: Digital Camera Delights
No other tech tool has been more widely adopted by real estate professionals than the digital camera. While the recent NAR survey of its members showed a paltry percentage had adopted wireless email devices, the digital camera ranked near ubiquitous with agents. And while some sales professionals still only see the camera as a route to bankruptcy (i.e., printing flyers and postcards) the fact remains that today’s digital cameras make it possible to market properties better, faster and cheaper than ever before. » Full article...


Blogs: Internet Marketing for Everyone
Up to now, internet marketing has been dominated by two major mediums: websites and email messages. Websites require input from many different people; designers, programmers, maintainers, content generators and marketers. Email can be mastered by a single person. Real Estate websites generally look prettier, function better, contain more information and are viewed by more people than sporadic agent email blasts. Email content remains mostly static, basically text, with few graphics or photos added. » Full article...


How to Market Homes-Even on the Internet
Marketing dominates the real estate brokerage process. It is used to promote companies, generate leads, sell homes and swap referrals. Marketing is also what most agents think they are doing when they put properties in newspapers, postcards and even the web. yet this isn't really marketing. And real estate professionals need to learn how to do marketing, at least better than advertising, especially online. » Full article...
Shape Your future
By all accounts, 2006 was a fairly good year. Some agents would have called it a "down" year - but if the only evidence for that is that some of us did a few less "exuberant" deals than the year before, we should always be so lucky in "down years." Not every real estate professional had a down year, though; and of those that didn't, one important trend stands out... » Full article...
Email Embarrassment
Like the telephone of the 20th century, email has become the 21st century's tele-tool for lead generation, customer service and daily communication. Given its central importance in our businesses, you still would not believe how embarrassingly awful email communications remain today... » Full article...
Blackberry Pearls of Wisdom
What happens when a technology company listens to its customers? Sometimes, just sometimes, they release a product that astounds: rich in features, easy to use and best of all - works as advertised. Products that have done this are really few and far between: the IBM Thinkpad and Apple's iPod come to mind. And finally - without a moment to spare - such a magical device has come to the world of email-enabled cell phones: The Blackberry Pearl. » Full article...
The Blog Days of Summer
Show me an agent without an opinion about the market, buyers, sellers or mortgage rates, and I'll show you a dead agent. But try to channel that agent's opinions into a useful marketing tool and I'll suggest you create a blog. » Full article...
Home to Roost
Consider it a wake up call: interest rates are a little higher, inventory is a lot larger and days on market are far longer. Certainly, it's not a crisis - not a burst bubble - but nobody can deny that the marketplace has substantially changed from last year's frenzy days of have-a-pulse-and-a-license-make-a-sale conditions. » Full article...
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