What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?

#1 is the team I work with.  I like being around these guys and I love the debates that we have about different issues we face and how we can best tackle them.  Because we’ve brought together a team from diverse backgrounds (accounting, engineering, UI/design, editorial and sales and marketing) we all bring different viewpoints to issues.

I think you can see the power of that in how we have brought drag and drop functionality to how a user easily categorizes transactions in our app.  That’s not a typical feature you’d see in an accounting application and it comes from our team not being dominated by traditional software engineers.

Secondly, I get a lot of energy from meeting small business owners.  They are passionate about what we are building and I know that it will help enable them to be more successful.  That’s a really good feeling.

Finally,  I am inspired by the people I meet who have been successful in their areas — whether that be investors, partners, fellow entrepreneurs etc.  I feel motivated coming out of those types of meetings because I’m surrounded by people who can teach me a lot about how to build a great business.

Do you have any success start-up tips for people wanting to create a name for themselves in your industry?

We have a lot to prove before I’m willing to suggest that anyone should listen to my tips for success.  But since you asked…

The number one lesson I’ve learned since I started my first business 13 years ago is that relationships matter.  At the time I was 23 and I didn’t know a lot of people or hadn’t developed deep relationships with people across the industry.  When my first business failed I got a “real job” for the next 12 years and focused on building up my network.  That has proven invaluable to the launch of Wave.  I think it’s the #1 issue most young entrepreneurs have.  Where do I go to find money?  How do I develop partnerships that can help grow the business?  A deep network helps get you in front of the right people.

In your opinion why is Toronto a hotbed for cool tech start-ups?

1. Solid access to talent which is the building block of any company.
2. Access to resources like MaRS (I’m a big fan of what they offer to start ups and recommend them to all entrepreneurs that I come into contact with).
3. More and more companies like Miller Thomson (legal firm), Deloitte and RBC who are taking a long term view of helping young entrepreneurs knowing that if they are successful everyone will benefit.
4. More and more exits which are creating the next generation of angel investors who are knowledgeable about start ups and willing to take risks.

What’s your favourite tech toy and social media site and why?

I have a love/hate relationship with my new Galaxy S Android phone.  I’m coming off the iPhone 3G which had become ridiculously slow so the upgrade in speed is fantastic.  But it doesn’t come with as many features out of the box and right now I don’t have the time or patience to be customizing it so I’m frustrated.

My go to social media site is LinkedIn given the need to meet more and more people.  I’ve always been a fan.  But I’ve been spending more and more time on Twitter as we leverage it to help grow Wave.  I’m addicted to the real-time customer feedback.

Who would you say are Toronto’s social media/tech stars and why?

I’m a big fan of Sarah and Erin at Sprouter.  They are huge advocates of Toronto start-ups and the exposure is needed and appreciated.

Because we are going after the small business market I am impressed by others in a similar space: Dan at Rypple, Ben at ClearFit and Andrew at BizLaunch.  These are guys that are cutting their teeth going after a difficult to reach market and are doing a great job at it.

Finally, I love what Aron and Matt are doing at Connectsy.  Aron worked on Wave for a time and he’s an absolutely brilliant guy who made our product better.  I know everything he works on will be good.

Find out more about Wave Accounting here.

marketing in a social age is devoting 31 posts this month to social and digital media and the real estate industry.  

QR (Quick Response) bar codes have been around for a long time.  According to Wikipedia, “although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (known as mobile tagging).  QR Codes can be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user’s device, to open a URI or to compose a text message or email.”

QR Codes for Real Estate

The coolest thing for Realtors is that anyone can generate their own QR Code for others to scan and use by visiting free QR Code generating sites.  Now let’s discuss how you can use them for your business.

• On your real estate sign outside your listed property so people can digitally experience an open house at any time.
• On your business card so potential clients can read about you and see your listings.
• Almost any marketing piece you are involved in can use a QR code. Think of all the print advertising you use.  And that bus bench too!

Not many companies and brands are presently using QR codes.  However, many of your clients are using smartphones.  This ‘connected’ demographic is also used to using their smartphones to gather information from the web.  Use this knowledge and QR codes to your best advantage.

Here’s a simple example of a QR code I made for this blog:

marketing in a social age is devoting 31 posts this month to social and digital media and the real estate industry.

In my opinion what makes digital and social media most effective is when brands interact with their customers or fans in the real world.  I recently wrote a piece called “major league baseball proves that meetups work in the age of digital and social media.”  I showed that when baseball’s general managers gather for their regular meetings, many trades and deals happen.  More so than at an other time of year.  And I argued that it is because these people feel more comfortable dealing in person than through other digital means.

What this means for Real Estate

Let’s press pause here and do a little reflection.

I believe that we all need to discover new and imaginative ways to use new tools and technology to market and promote our business.  And this includes all things online, digital and social.

However, I also believe that we need to do what works.  And this means doing what I call, “slowing down to speed up.”  Actually meeting people one on one or in small groups may not seem productive.  But at second glance it just might be.  When was the last time you had a conversation with someone face to face for more than 15 minutes?

Suggestions

Here are some suggestions to help you get thinking of what you might want to do:

• Take the time to hold a get together of people who have supported you.  How does a movie night for family and friends sound?
• Support a neighbourhood picnic or garage sale.  Do more than post your name and business number on a sign.  Get your hands dirty.
• Invite a special speaker into your office to talk to you and your associates (maybe even those you see as competition).  This person could be a mortgage broker or even someone who can help you understand about various tech tools.
• Hold a business-time barbeque for your office neighbours.  I suggest waiting until the weather improves.

What other IRL (in real life) events can you think of?  If you’ve organized a meetup please share your experiences below.

marketing in a social age is devoting 31 posts this month to social and digital media and the real estate industry.  

As professionals (and that includes Realtors) find more uses for their iPads, I thought I would include the 5 best iPad apps.  This one’s for you, Realtors!

Complete Realty – This innovative app allows users to access foreclosed, pre-foreclosed, auction, and bank-owned homes right from their fingertips.  The app provides each property’s asking price, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, year built, housing type, and also includes a picture and satellite aerial view of each home, a detailed map, driving directions and much much more.

RentCompass – View photo albums of rental properties at higher resolution and use the iPad multi-touch experience to navigate through rental properties with as little clicks as possible.

Keynote – this app from Apple is a great tool when doing listing presentations or showing clients various properties for sale.  Don’t let the chance to make a great first impression pass you by.

Pulse News Reader – Want to keep up on all the business, real estate and other news you find interesting?  Then Pulse might be for you.  Pulse is a visual news reader for your iPad. It takes the news sources you follow, and instantly creates a visual mosaic of your news. Tap on an article, and you’re presented with a very clean view of the news story. 

Realtor Assistant – The market keeping you busy?  Wish you had more than 24 hours in a day and more than 7 days in a week?  Realtor Assistant was created to help Realtors stay focused on what needs to be done. Simply create a new project, pick your workflow and start date. The app will do the rest and populate your calendar with all of the necessary events that you need to finish the job! It’s a great way to stay organized and each project can be customized to fit that specific clients needs.

Do you use an iPad for your business?  What’s your favourite iPad app?

marketing in a social age is devoting 31 posts this month to social and digital media and the real estate industry.

1. REALTOR.ca for Windows Phone 7.According to the press release, the REALTOR.ca app provides house hunters with the functionality of REALTOR.ca while taking advantage of Windows Phone 7 device features such as GPS.  The app allows users to search for houses and properties across Canada and to connect with REALTORS to view, buy or sell a property.  Photos, newly listed properties and open house information are all available.
2. Zoocasa’s mobile search for iPhone. On your iPhone, Zoocasa uses the GPS to pinpoint your location and show you all the nearby homes that are listed for sale and indexed by Zoocasa.
3. RealEstate411.  This app was released this past springin Canada.  This marketing tool that allows Canadian Realtors to generate leads, deliver instant property information and connect with prospective buyers over any cell phone.
4. HomeZilla’s Neighbourhood Knowledge.  HomeZilla’s Neighbourhood Knowledge iPhone app makes researching Canadian neighbourhoods very easy: You can find the closest schools, parks, coffee shops, demographic information, electoral history, and much more.
5. RentCompass.  RentCompass for the Android combines the rich functions of Google maps with your Android’s GPS into a very easy and powerful tool to find your next home to rent.

Do you have a favourite mobile real estate app?