Technology gurus can be anyone from a top nationally-known trainer to a fellow Realtor. With so many choices in such a wide range of technologies that you need for your real estate business, it would be so easy to let someone else make your purchasing decisions for you. But how do you know whose advice to follow? Some experts may have a hidden agenda.

Watch out for jacks-of-all-trades

Technology that helps the real estate industry is so broad-based that it would be a unique expert who is proficient in all types. Here's just a short list of what a tech guru would need to know:

• The Internet consumer and his/her behavior
• Online marketing tools and how they work
• Advertising
• Contact management
• Business management
• Transaction management
• New business models
• Web page design
• How search engines work
• Data protection

These areas of expertise and more can be boiled down to two basic categories: business management (hardware and software applications for office and transaction management) and lead management (marketing, advertising, leads results and analysis.) Determine which areas you need the most help.

For example, you may want to start capturing leads online, but you may have no interest in designing or keeping up your own Web site. Your level of involvement should help dictate which technologies you will want to use - a client management software, a good professional e-mail program and either a template or custom Web site. If you don't want to manage your own Web site, you will want a vendor who does search engine placement, or advertises heavily to bring people to your site. Now all you have to do is check out Web site vendors. Your tech guru should be able to tell you the differences between good template and custom vendors and why.

The technology consultant should also be expert in offline tools, so that a total cost analysis can be done to determine where it is most effective for the broker or agent to spend money, and which product subscriptions are worth renewing for next year. But even these subsets of technology are more than one consultant can reasonably cover in your best interest. Doesn't it make sense to find out where your tech guru is most experienced?

Says Realtor and consultant, Jim Crawford, "The problem with many gurus in real estate, is that they may consider themselves the sole source for a field. Some are experts in dialogue, scripts to close, others with technology, and some with the Internet. The problem you can see, is that each area has its own scope. Many traditional speakers and so called gurus are now trying to include themselves in the technology arena, because they know they are missing the boat."

What should brokers and agents watch out for? Crawford says beware of:

• Exorbitant costs or fees
• A cult mentality by the coach or consultant as the only expert
• Training sessions that are predicated on the next session
• Sales of items on every corner of every table - tapes, software, books, CDs, cassette-of-the-month
• Conference calls with dozens of other agents (don't you want individual attention?)

Be careful of paid advocates

According to Michael Russer, a.k.a, Mr. Internet, there are other ways to determine which tech gurus to avoid - anyone who makes a buck on the stuff they recommend, he says.

"A good consultant / coach should not have any kind of conflicting financial arrangement with the products or services they recommend," advises Russer. "It is impossible to be objective otherwise. Also, given the breadth of what is available, it is not unreasonable to assume that the agent would be better off hiring specialists each in the areas of marketing, business planning, operations, etc. - no one person can be a master of all these disciplines."

Questions to ask before hiring a technology consultant:

• What is your area of expertise?
• What in your background or current position qualifies you to recommend or not recommend the products I need?
• Do you accept any compensation from vendors for recommending their products?
• What are the competitors to this product, and why do you recommend/not recommend them?
• Which of these have you personally used or are you using now?
• If you aren't the right consultant for me, whom would you recommend?

Where do you find tech gurus? Most offer seminars at real estate conventions. Sometimes local associations or brokers sponsor coaches. Others can be found online. You can also ask peers whom you know use technology if they were helped by a coach or tech guru.

Suggests Crawford, "Look for someone who lays out facts and is impartial to them, and whose best interest is in increasing the performance of the agent who has sought their advice. There are those who are beneficial and others are out there to make a quick buck off of agents."