I am excited to say that I got to speak with Ray Miller a Realtor with Rubloff Residential Properties. He is the newest member of our interview series People in the Network Making a Difference. Ray Miller is a great example of an early adopter in using technology to further his real estate business. Read my interview with him to find out more about his successful websites that are producing business, his social networking strategies and successes and his knack for not only utilizing new technologies, but also teaching his coworkers to use them as well.

Name: Ray miller
Title: Broker/ Associate
Company:Rubloff Residential Properties

How long have you worked in the real estate industry?
I have been with Rubloff for exactly one year. Before Rubloff I was with Keller Williams Lincoln Park in Chicago since 2002. I have been a licensed Broker for over 22 years.

Is there anything in particular that drew you to Rubloff?
First of all you make a decision on where you want to go based on the people and I just don’t think there are finer people out there.  They’re very savvy with technology, their reputation is outstanding, and I’m supported and I wanted that for my clients and for myself. It has been a really rewarding move, both personally and professionally.

Mark Pullinger mentioned that you are an early adopter of technology. How long have you been using technology to further your real estate business?
Well, from the minute I began selling real estate full time I realized that the next wave was really the internet. So I started investing the time, energy and money in making sure I had a presence on the web.

Once I understood the importance of SEO and the time necessary to do it well, I realized I needed to work with a website, and this is going back 8 years, that would take care of that search engine optimization for me. I had started out meta tagging, using companies like Overture.  This turned out to be very time consuming so I searched for a site that not only looked good but placed my site on the Internet where prospects would be able to find me.  My research pointed me to a website vendor call Number 1 Expert. I still get very positive results with my No. 1 Expert Website, http://www.raymillerrealty.com/. I chose them because they actually place my website with my key areas of focus out into the internet. And I have to say I can directly account dollars made directly to leads that come from that website.

Now I am trying to do the same thing with the Rebrandable from Rubloff, http://www.raymillerrealestate.com/. What I am finding is working with the Rebrandable is cross breading it with the No. 1 Expert site. My clients like the search engine on the Rebrandable with the Polygon Tool, and being create their own map boarders. The search tool on my Number 1 Expert site is linked to the Rubloff Rebrandable which exposes prospects to the search tools and other Rubloff tools and information.

I have found that when I set up clients on an MRED/MLS search, prospects still go out into the net and use other tools.  If I teach them about the Rubloff map tool they have a source that I can work with them on and yet they have complete control over the search parameters.  Clients can go up or down in price, change areas, etc.

Do you have everyone that comes to your websites create an account? Are you capturing leads through registrations?
If I want a client to use it I go and register for them. And then send them a link, create a password and a login.  All my clients have the same password, “raymiller.”  I’ll set them up on the site, and then teach them how to use it, particularly the save favorite property feature which will allow me to view homes they are interested in seeing or gathering more information about.

How do you keep in touch with your registered users?
I add them to my data bases and begin using the drip campaigns, market updates, call lists, and when possible add them to my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.  Once in place, I call, email, update, drip, etc. 8 times in the first 8 weeks and then up to 20-30 times per year when appropriate.

Would you say that your websites are the best technology tool that you use?
I find that a lot of the time that I will give people my business card and provide them with information about Rubloff, we have beautiful collateral, but I think what really seals the deal is having the presence on the internet. Prospects can look at the quality of my site, photography, learn more about me, my marketing techniques and then look through the eyes of a potential buyer or seller and imagine what the interaction with me would feel like and in terms of marketing, look like.

You mentioned that you can “directly account dollars made directly to leads” that come from your website. How successful have the websites been for you?
I can recall several instances where an initial hit from a website led to meetings and then sales.  In one case, a single lead had sprouted seven more contracts over the years.

Do you use social networking at all?
I am trying to use these tools religiously. I am on Facebook and LinkedIn and have just begun with Twitter. 

Do you have any business relationships on the social networking sites?
I do have business relationships as a result of social networking.  I have created some good relationships with mortgage professionals and other real estate oriented service providers.  I also have links to many other Realtors.  My goal is to create as many contacts as possible concentrating on prospects that I may be able to assist in the sale or purchase of real estate.

Do you think that the customers you have been working with are pretty tech savvy? Are they finding you on the social network sites?
Yes, most of my clients are glad and eager to use the latest technology.  I have a client that is an active Facebook user that I have been marketing to via calls, mail, email and Facebook.  She recently reached out to me on Facebook to let me know she was in the market again for a larger space.

I hear you are also very outgoing and knowledgeable and that you often help people out, teaching them technology.  Do you enjoy helping people?
In a previous life I have done an awful lot of training, and I have found training to be very rewarding.  Our company’s culture is to share knowledge whenever possible.  There are several of us in the office as well as in the company that conduct training on topics ranging from social networking to foreclosures.

You mentioned last week that you were going to help with a training on Realtor.com how did that go?
Our company just made an arrangement with Realtor.com so that every agent now has enhanced listings. I had purchased that for my own listings and came to the company with it, and was able to now take advantage of getting it for free with Rubloff.

It is a tricky system that is easy to manipulate once you get in and understand it, but there is a difference between how it appears on the dashboard and how it appears on Realtor.com. I was able to show my coworkers how to use the system and the difference in the live site vs. the toolbox and save them a few hours of time figuring this out for themselves.

Do you feel that most of the agents in the office are pretty well versed in technology?
I think that Rubloff agents are very well versed; I think that they all know what the technology is capable of, and that if they’re not going after business using tech tools, then they must spend their time doing other prospecting activities. And the great thing about Rubloff is that throughout the different offices there are people at each office who do different types of training pertaining to the different technologies available.

Rubloff has Mark Pullinger and John D’Ambrogio informing us of all the tools and opportunities.  The key for me has been to figure out which fit me the best in terms of time management and which I feel will be best received by my clients and prospects.  My challenge is to find the right balance between marketing/tech activities and making direct face-to-face contact with my clients.  At some point we have to reach out to the person not through a computer screen.

Visit Rubloff Residenital Properties online at: www.rubloff.com