It’s frustrating when you have a problem with your hardware, software or your marketing strategy and there’s no one around to ask for help. You can always contact tech support at the company whose products you’re using, but sometimes that can take longer than expected. You may have to pay for support, in some cases. When you need quick advice it’s nice to turn to peers. But what if you are the only one in your office who uses technology?

You can do what Orlando Realtor Risa Saltman does – use the Internet to meet people.

Saltman is a self-confessed Internet junkie. To meet others to network with, she belongs to the Real Estate Cyberspace Society, a Masterminds-type group or two, several online real estate list-servs(tm), and she also meets people at conventions. She has a large network of friends she relies on, and she uses advice from coaches like Joeann Fossland.

”As the Internet evolved and I evolved, I found I wanted to have more time to search the Internet,” explains Saltman. “I also wanted to work a 30-hour week, and Joeann Fossland gave me this paper called The Perfect Week. I found I had a lot of white space where nothing was planned, so now I put in three hours just to search the Internet.”

Saltman visits her favorite list-serv at Yahoo! Real Estate to ask her peers, “What do you think of this idea? I’ll try anything for six months. That’s like two years in real life.”

How does she find peers who give good advice?

“I find them online or meet them at conventions,” says Saltman. “I listen to their questions and if they are Internet-intelligent, chances are they are Internet-savvy. I’m on two Yahoo list-servs for real estate agents, and one on investment. It helped me when I had a buyer from South America, from Uruguay. I didn’t even know where it was. On the list-serv, people helped me with their customs, and one person even translated my e-mail for me.”

Saltman is mostly interested in Internet marketing. How does she know if peers know what they are talking about when it comes to technologies? “You look at their site and ask how well the site is doing. You look to see how well it comes up on the search engines, then they know about submission. I’ll ask how they get people to their Web site or reports, I’ll e-mail them a question.”

Are other agents always helpful? “If they say, I use a Webmaster, then I know they don’t know anything,” laughs Saltman, “The very successful agents will tell you anything you want to know, the in-between agents are apt to say something like, ‘I don’t remember,' or 'Gee, I’m not sure that will work for you.’ Few will say they don’t want to share, so they will be evasive instead. Nobody wants to admit that they don’t want to share.”

List-servs can have other downers besides people who don't share.

Some list-serv members may have a personal agenda. One well-respected agent, a self-appointed watchdog, posts such frequent negative comments about a particular company on numerous boards and list-servs that he has been accused by fellow board members of shorting the company’s stock. He says he has never been a customer of the company’s products, yet when others ask about subscribing to the company's products, this man sees it as his duty to steer them away.

List-serv participants can also be mistaken in their information. Because it is easier to use the experience of others, than to try everything personally, agents sometimes unknowingly pass along inaccurate or outdated information about products, services and companies.

List-serv participants also may need thick skins.

One new agent wrote on a popular list-serv recently that when he asked a technology question of the group, he was surprised to receive taunts from others in the community. Some of the other agents then proceeded to deride him for being intimidated.

And woe to any vendor caught making an error. List-serv vengeance is swift and unforgiving. One mistake can wipe out years of good deeds to those who revel in the power of their particular community to gang up on a vendor.

These actions cow the unaggressive majority, and Saltman admits she is one who stays quiet when list-servs get ugly.

She says she prefers to take the good advice and ignore the rest. She remembers being scathingly criticized once herself, causing her to back off from posting anything to that particular list-serv for months. She doesn't want to risk that happening again.

“I should speak up and say how terrible it is when that happens," says Saltman.

On the other hand, she says, list-serv participants shouldn’t expect a free ride either. She says there are plenty who get tips from other agents without offering to give something back to the group.

Saltman says she gives back by providing a Web site called Realestatepro.com, where she has created between 40 to 60 pages of Web tips for real estate professionals. She e-mails new tips to her friends and now has a mailing list of about 4000 agents. She also has booklets of her tips handy to pass out when she attends conventions and meets new people. She says she hopes her actions will result in agents giving her more referrals.

”I give away everything except my clients,” says Saltman.

Published: January 15, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.