The Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is a three day event that brings the nation’s brightest, most innovative business minds together to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the companies that appear on the 2011 Inc. 5000 list.  In true Active Website style, there were great parties, great people and most importantly, great information.

The people that attended the conference, as well as the keynote speakers, were inspirational. What I found most interesting, was that the conference’s materials and the other attendees seemed to have a lot in common with Active Website and what we believe sums up our keys to success. In fact, it almost mirrored Active’s official response to making the Inc. 5000 list.

Gary Vaynerchuck, author of The Thank You Economy, spoke about how the rise of the internet has given way to a shift in power to the consumer and the humanization of business. The empowered consumer now has options on where to go to spend their money, and it they don’t like your services, they will take their money somewhere else. Not only that, but through the power of social media, they can now tell hundreds of people what they think about your services.  This makes a high level of customer service crucial to your success.

As an employee of Active Website, I can attest to the fact that Active Website prides itself on treating its clients like family and, in turn, instilling that into the way they treat us, their employees. With so many competitors out there, a new focus has emerged to develop brand loyalty from the ground up. From the beginning, Active Website has been focused on providing a high quality product while providing a very personal level of service as well.

Another key message I left with, was that this new model of the empowered consumer has also transformed the way we need to market to them; they now can choose what they listen to.  Gone are the days of pushing your brand or message onto consumers; the new consumer chooses what brands and what information they want to bring into their worlds.

With that said, we need to be more mindful of how we communicate to our customers.  Brands need to become more human in order to effectively communicate to our consumers.  A tweet about how great your services are can be annoying, but if you interact with your potential customers and create a relationship with them, they are more likely to reach out to you when they are in need of your services.

Like Ze Frank emphasized at our annual conference this year,  it’s become less about selling and more about building relationships, humanizing your brand and creating ENGAGING content.

In today’s information age, new strategies and technologies are constantly emerging, so it’s our responsibility to ensure we remain ahead of the curve in order to adapt. Having the opportunity to attend the Inc. event and be recognized alongside other innovative companies served as affirmation that our company is aligned for future success. When looking towards the future, I see nothing but opportunity as we continue to exceed customer expectations and develop the most user-friendly websites available in the Real Estate Industry.

Broker → Customer

Usability Vs. Branding: Your Logo is Not Your Brand
This session will help clarify the difference between usability and branding. Because we live in a customer-centric world, we need to keep usability at the forefront of design – not our branding. By focusing more on usability, you supply your customers with a higher quality experience that will then be associated with your brand. Keep in mind, your brand encompasses more than just your logo and design. It also includes your strategy and communication tools, your employees and facilities and most importantly your customer service.

Speaker:
Tom Flanagan
Technology Director
Residential Properties Ltd.

Search, Mobile and Social: Their Impact on Real Estate
Last year, we defined search, mobile and social as the major trends that are revolutionizing the Real Estate Industry.  Tyler Olmstead, Active Website’s Director of Deployment, and Chris Chares, Active’s Mobile Developer, will discuss their impact on the Real Estate Industry as well as the functionality we have developed as a result of these trends.

Speakers:
Tyler Olmsted
Director of Deployment
Active Website, LLC

Chris Chares
Mobile Developer
Active Website, LLC

Getting the Most Out of Your Community Relations: Increasing Brand Recognition Through Community Involvement
An important component of your brokerage’s marketing strategy involves your ability to connect to your local community. By bridging the gap between your brokerage and your customers through community involvement, you can increase brand recognition. Randall Graham, Vice President and Director of Marketing at Ebby Halliday Realtors, discusses Ebby’s strategy for positioning their brokerage in the community through events, fundraisers and various other programs.

Speaker:
Randall Graham
Vice President and Director of Marketing
Ebby Halliday Realtors

Stay tuned over the next couple weeks as we release more details about the sessions at our annual event!

Related Posts:
The Active Enterprise Network Gears Up for 2011 Annual Conference

By Dyana Gutierrez

With millions of applicants vying for this honor, we are proud to have ranked #1743 in the 2011 Inc. 5000 list. With a growth of 153% over the past 3 years, our current ranking demonstrates how our ideologies and core values as a company have made us successful over the years.

We are honored to be recognized for this distinguished award and could not have done it without the hard work and support of our employees and clients.

Here is our official response:

We feel very lucky for the substantial growth we have had over the past few years. We are extremely proud and honored to have placed 1743 in the 2011 Inc. 5000 of fastest growing independent companies in the U.S.

We develop complex web based platforms for major industries. Currently we service the waste disposal and real estate industries and are eager to expand.

To be honest with you, we did not reinvent the wheel with the core of our business model. Henry Ford was a great man; a visionary, way before his time. I can sum up our keys to success with two of his quotes:

1. ‘It is not the employer who pays the wages. He only handles the money. It is the customer that pays the wages.‘

For a long time corporations had a tremendous advantage in the marketplace over their customers (many of which abused their position). With the increase of easy access to information and competitors via the web and emerging technologies, customers are better educated and demand more. This evolution is slowly forcing companies to provide a higher level of service and realize Mr. Ford’s vision, or risk falling behind.

Since Active Website was founded (in 1998), we managed every aspect of our business with this concept in mind. We treat our customers and employees like family, and pride ourselves with the highest level of service. In our yearly conference we often cover topics surrounding the customer centric business model, hoping to pass this notion on through our customers to theirs. We thoroughly believe that building a strong brand is achieved through satisfying your customers.

Furthermore, we see many businesses charging their entire fee or the larger portion of, upfront. We structured our business model to charge a small setup fee and an ongoing monthly service charge, meaning that we collect most of the fees on the backend of our contracts. This model helps us align our goals with our clients; companies that charge most of their fees upfront are typically not as incentivized to provide an increased level of service.

2. ‘A man who will use skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little, is bound to succeed.’

These words are really extended instructions on how to make the most of the first quote. To us, more than anything it resembles the need for quality and value in order to keep customers satisfied. Quality in everything you do; your products, your services, your team. When you lose your passion, start cutting corners, achieve the minimum required to get by, stop innovating and breaking new ground, you might as well close shop.

We passionately enjoy the challenge in taking on new and complex projects, but strive never to compromise quality in the process. We have found innovative ways in creating collaborative business networks to help speed up functionality production while reducing our customers’ costs.

We have seen these fundamental concepts take us from strength to strength even through difficult market conditions. It is actually those hard times that provide us with the opportunity to further show our clients the value in our partnership.

We feel how fast we are growing, and while it would be easy to get overwhelmed, we really enjoy the fact that the larger we become the more impact we can have in increasing standards. We recently reached the size where it became viable to open our very own Active Usability Lab. Many vendors base their production on experience and preach their ideologies throughout their potential client base. Usability has come a long way; modern eye gaze technology allows you to scientifically analyze how customers best interact with your online presence and its content. We feel we can bring more to our clients by adding quantitative data to our already qualitative interpretation of user experience. Our findings often result in unexpected and sometimes drastic changes that have proven to yield significant results.

In this early stage of Internet evolution, many companies are still too focused on driving traffic to their sites. Some have progressed to targeting specific traffic. While this approach is heading in the right direction many companies are not aware of the impact of increasing the usability of their sites. With the customer centric model in mind, if we make the end user happier to use our sites, our brands will be associated with quality and greater service and will grow through additional positive user recommendations as well as invested marketing. Focusing on traffic rather than usability is counterproductive; it can lead to increased exposure to less than perfect production, which these potential customers will associate with your brand.

To ensure we’re providing a comprehensive technology platform, we have a dedicated team that works hard to keep our clients’ sites on the cutting-edge of technology. Without the continued support of our employees and clients over the years, we would not be where we are today. Together, we can ensure our placement on this list in the years to come.

What’s important about this change? It will lead to better ad positioning and increased exposure.  Facebook ads will have longer face time with the user since the ads will follow them as they scroll down the page. It will also limit the amount of advertisements on each page giving your Facebook ad more prominence. This new functionality may mean that Facebook can charge more for these ads, but you can enjoy a higher click-through rate as a result.

As brokerages, this could have a positive influence on your online marketing efforts. Facebook ads already allow you to narrow your target audience by location, demographics, interests and more. Once these new changes occur, you’re able to reach these same users, but for a longer period of time. This increase in exposure will hopefully increase your online leads as well.

There are over 500 million users globally of which 50% login to Facebook on a daily basis. This combined with their ability to create highly targeted ads give you the opportunity to reach mass audiences. By shifting your marketing budget to include Facebook ads, you can increase exposure for your brand on a platform consumers are visiting regularly, helping make your brand the default destination for real estate in your region.

Further Reading on the upcoming Facebook Redesign:

• Facebook Is Quietly Testing First Major Redesign in Over a Year
• New Facebook design keeps ads and menus visible when scrolling
• Have You Heard About Facebook’s Redesign?

By Dyana Gutierrez

Active Website employees make an active effort to set forth these changes in our every day work environment. At any given time, you’ll notice that several offices have the lights turned off relying more on natural lighting. Some might call us crazy, but we call it enlightened – pardon the pun. We are also incredibly honored to conduct our business in a LEED certified building.

A LEED certified building is a nationally accepted benchmark and indicates that our building is constructed and operated using less material waste and has a lower consumption of water and electricity. We have also been accepted into the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), making us one of just over 6,400 organizations to be in this association. In fact, walking around the premises, you’ll see signs informing guests of our building’s many sustainable features.

One of these features, you’ll notice, is that the lights will automatically turn on and off when you enter and leave the restrooms. The use of these occupancy sensors is said to reduce energy by up to 50%. Our building also features low flow water fixtures, which use up to 40% less water, a figure calculated by Denver Water.

Here is a complete list of accomplishments our building was able to achieve in 2010:

• Achieved Energy Star score of 79 – meaning our building is more efficient than 79% of comparables
• Recycled roughly 100 lbs. of electronics of which 30% was donated to support D’Evelyn High School’s Performing Arts Program
• Water usage decreased approximately 20% from 2009
• Wind & solar provide 100% of our building’s power
• Implemented the green cleaning program

Active Website is extremely proud to say we’re making a difference in the efforts to reduce waste and protect our environment. There are ways you too can help make a difference in your community. Find out more by visiting www.usgbc.org.

By Johnny Shinnick

Covering a wide range of topics, Ori’s presentations will discuss the importance of usability and being a customer centric brokerage, the role video plays in engaging consumers, lead management systems and major technology trends in the industry – including search, mobile and social.

For those attending the conference, these are two sessions you won’t want to miss.

Technologies Connecting You To Tomorrow’s Customer
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
10:45 a.m.–11:45 a.m.
Condesa 3

What will define best practices for user interface and website design, iPads and other new devices, apps in lieu of traditional websites, and more in the years to come?

Moderator:

• Sarah Bonert, Zillow

Panelists include:

• Bob Bill, Market Leader
• Doug Breaker, Homefinder
• Ori Staub, Active Website
• Stephanie Pfeffer, Luxury Portfolio International
• Rhett Damon, LeadingRE

FutureTense: Guide to Making Your Website More Compelling

Thurday, March 10, 2011
10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Nolita 3

What are the core and cutting edge elements that create a compellingly effective website for both branding and lead generation? What features should you include and how do you integrate them into the overall design? Attend this session to hear about best practices.

Moderator:

• Stephanie Pfeffer, Luxury Portfolio International

Panelists include:

• LP Finn, III, Coach Real Estate Associates, Inc.
• John D’Ambrogio, Baird & Warner
• Ori Staub, Active Website
• Marc Siden, Onboard Informatics

For those interested in meeting with the Active Team while in Las Vegas, please contact Kendal Greer at 720-238-3719 or Kendal@activewebsite.com.

By Amanda Stephan

The LifeCycle and ROI Manager position, driven by Network members, is crucial to the evolution of our platform and maximizing The Network’s Return on Investment. Responsibilities for this role include working with each Enterprise member to develop comprehensive ROI analysis reports, monthly updates on ROI progress and detailed reports on closed business. The position also supports the Active Partner Program and manages LifeCycle, our inquiry management system.

Due to Stephanie’s background in real estate technology and project management, she has a well-rounded viewpoint when analyzing business processes. As an added benefit, Stephanie has worked closely with Active Website since Smith & Associates joined The Active Enterprise Network in 2008. Having worked with The Enterprise Platform for two years on the client side, Stephanie is familiar with its nuances and how it benefits both brokers and agents in The Network. From managing a brokerage website to conducting technology training for agents, Stephanie’s involvement with our systems on a daily basis allows her to bring new and fresh ideas on how we can enhance the everyday user’s experience.

In addition to understanding a real estate customer’s needs, Stephanie understands the day-to-day needs of owners, senior management and agents, bringing a wealth of inside knowledge to this position. Communicating and interacting regularly with those directly affected by our technology, Stephanie understands what it means to be a part of a successful real estate company.

We are very happy to have such a talented and knowledgeable individual join our team. Stephanie will play an integral part in the continued success of The Enterprise Network. By overseeing the future development of our LifeCycle system and supporting each member’s business goals, this position will ensure members realize the value of their Enterprise Network membership as we continue to lead the way as market leaders.

For members wanting more information about this announcement, please contact your Project Manager.

By Amanda Stephan

To further demonstrate the competitive edge Danberry has over others in their market, below is the 2010 monthly breakdown of unique visitors to Danberry.com as well.

Danberry’s traffic can be attributed in part to their aggressive SEO strategy and several upgrades to their site. During their first year with The Enterprise Network, Danberry has made several enhancements to their website in order to remain on the cutting edge of technology. Not only did changes to their site lead to an increase in traffic, but the internal structure of the company allowed Danberry to have a strong support system for implementing these changes as well. 2010 saw a lot of advancements within the company and has established a solid foundation for success in 2011 and beyond.

By Amanda Stephan

The process of finding an appropriate partner for The Network begins with Active Website researching 3^rd party vendors whose technology will help further boost the presence and effectiveness of The Network.  In order to ensure Active is meeting the needs of our customers, recommendations are also taken from Enterprise Network members. These potential vendors are then passed onto The Active Evaluation Committee, a team comprised of solely of Network members. The committee is responsible for reviewing the services provided by potential partners in order to determine their overall value and ultimately aid in the final decision.

Since employing this new system of technology and service integration in early 2010, The Enterprise Network has partnered with the following third-party vendors:

Onboard Informatics
A rich source of hyper-local information, Onboard Informatics offers Network members the ability to provide customers with important community data needed when buying or selling a home. This includes school and neighborhood information, population density, demographics, average housing prices, time-on-market statistics and more.

eHome Marketing
Branding marketing materials can be tedious and time consuming.  However, eHome Marketing cuts down on the time it takes to create these marketing materials by maintaining pre-approved branded templates for a variety of printed marketing pieces.  In order to streamline the process of creating these materials quickly and efficiently, information dealing with specific properties is pulled directly from the MLS – removing the time it takes to replicate details for brochures, postcards, etc.  In addition, targeted marketing campaigns can be launched directly from eHome Marketing, allowing agents to target individuals within a given radius, and from there, within desired demographics.

Landmark Signs
Landmark Signs provides real estate signage and products to help companies gain exposure in their market.  Through this partnership, Landmark provides Network members a specific online store from where they can purchase new signs when needed.  Since the styles and templates are pre-approved and adhere to broker-specific branding standards and guidelines, members can enter in their contact information and create signs quickly and efficiently with fast turnaround times.  Of course, with thousands of homes being represented by a brokerage the cost of signage adds up. Landmark offers preferred pricing to Network members based on volume.

Altos Research
Also offering hyper-local content to members, Altos Research offers up-to-the-minute real estate market data.  Members of the Network can use this service to make comparative analysis reports of specific neighborhoods or any other defined area of interest.

American Solutions for Business
Branded promotional products – specifically apparel – is now available to all Enterprise Network members through an online shop for agents and staff. Through access to their own company-branded store, members are able to purchase branded merchandise with ease. What sets American Solutions for Business apart from other companies of its type is the ability to order single pieces, rather than always requiring to order in bulk.  This apparel is offered in a variety of brands across all styles.

2010 proved to be a successful year for this program and we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead in 2011. As new vendors are added to the program, we will be updated our blog with further information pertaining to the partnership.

By Jeff Payne

The first in the real estate realm to implement this product, Active Website is providing another useful tool exclusive to The Active Enterprise Network that socially enables our websites and brings us one step closer to a truly personalized web experience. That being said, One Click Login is a necessary building block for more functionality centered on search and social integration.

The ability to connect people and information through social media is revolutionizing the way we do business. In addition to making our sites more user-friendly for our customers, Network members are able to gain access to important user information as well. With the ability to collect data through these third party services, Network members can provide customers with customized search options based on exports of this data.

One Click Login has been released to beta for Enterprise Network members only. Members, please contact your Project Manager for additional information and access to our One Click Login training video.

By Amanda Stephan