Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Going Small Screen…
March 7th, 2010 categories: Business, Technology

The man with the biggest TV wins….has been the marketing chant for Home Entertainment Systems…but at the same time…
Technology never slows and keeping up is a full time and expensive job.
A year ago I was given an Amazon Kindle for Xmas and have loved being able to access my own library from the Amazon Bookstore on a moments notice. Then came the Sony Reader and other E-books…Recently, Apple announced it’s latest product the IPad .
I believe that the IPad will be very successful… small screen format is the way of the future and these new tools are tools that provide content through Apps allow the owner to be more mobile…
The point of all this is that we are in the process of mobilizing my websites. The mobile version of www.RichardSilver.com is already launched with Torontoism.com and DowntownTorontoNews.com to follow soon.
If you search www.RichardSilver.com on your Blackberry or IPhone it will automatically recognize that you are using a smartphone and will show you the small screen format. I would like to give a shout out to the team at MobilizeMe.com who have done such an excellent job with the participation of the webmaster of all three site.
Check out www.RichardSilver.com on your smartphone and let me know your thoughts… Here is a sample…
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
REAL ESTATE: January 2010 Article in “Today’s Buyer’s Rep”.
February 9th, 2010 categories: Business, Real Estate, Technology
Almost a year ago I travelled to Chicago to sit in on a day of “rebooting” a course offered by REBAC, the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council of the National Association of REALTORS. The course was called Innovative Marketing and after a day of meetings and numerous subject matter discussions the course was relaunched in November of 2009.
“REBAC is the world’s largest organization of real estate professionals focusing on BUYER representation. By providing specialized training and ongoing skill development, REBAC helps its members—and the home buyers who work with them—experience more successful real estate transactions.”
Since last year I have sat on the Advisory Council of REBAC and in early December 2009 was interviewed for the article attached, both a great honour. Hope you enjoy the read..it will give you a sense of how our business has changed in the past years…to read it easily you may choose the full screen version.
| Discussion: 7 Comments »
Toronto Real Estate Board Launches IDX.
February 2nd, 2010 categories: Around TORONTO, Economy, Real Estate, Technology
IDX or Internet Data Exchange has been launched by the Toronto Real Estate Board this month. This platform allows the participating Brokers to share their listings with other participating Brokers on their web sites. For a consumer it means greater access to one-stop shopping on a Brokerage or Realtor site. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Impressions of REBarCampNYC and Inman Connect NYC 2010!
January 22nd, 2010 categories: Business, Economy, Real Estate, Technology, Travel

So I have been home a week and trying to make sense of all the information that I gleaned in the four hectic days of meetings in New York City. Instead of the usual “Blow by Blow” and who said what, I will just give you some of my impressions:
First and foremost, the four days were all about Social Media . Like it or not, just the way we used to say that Realtors with Technology will replace Realtors without it, now, Realtors and Brokers who have a Social Media presence will replace those who do not. As one of the speakers said, being a “Geek” is the norm and fashionable. Grandma’s are on Facebook , tweeting and showing off their new IPhone ! Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Lessons in Customer Service: Holland America’s Onboard Internet Service.
January 17th, 2010 categories: Business, Lifestyle, Technology, Travel
While on a Holland America Cruise recently, I messaged my Facebook and Twitter friends that I was enjoying the “Techspert” classes that they had on-board. Like a lot of Companies today, Holland America , is monitoring the Blogosphere and Tweetosphere and I heard back quickly that they “were happy I was enjoying myself”. My response was to tell them that although I was, I thought that their Internet charges ($100 for 250 minutes) were excessive in view of the poor service (back to the OLD dial-up days). Their response was “I’ll pass it on”.
Over the next weeks as complaints on-board grew and my Internet bill reached over $600.00, I again posted my thoughts and was told by the responder that they would “pass it on”. What does “pass it on” mean? Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 8 Comments »
New Year’s Resolutions 2010
January 1st, 2010 categories: Around TORONTO, Downtown Toronto, Economy, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Technology, Toronto
It is the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. At this time of year there is a natural tendency that I have had to make New Year’s resolutions. I’m sure that I am not that unusual and it is probably a trait that goes back through my family history. Was it a half-empty glass scenario?
So this morning, I was taking a nice long New Year’s walk…around the deck of a Cruise Ship as we are leaving Antarctica (not a bad life!). I challenged myself, as I routinely do to try to decide on changes that need to be made in my life. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 4 Comments »
Technology: The Joys of Ping.fm
December 9th, 2009 categories: Business, Technology
The great news about Social Media is you have all these platforms to help get the word out…The bad news is that you have all these platforms to update. It forces you to rewrite or cut and paste updates into three, four or more sites.
Then along comes Ping.fm and I love it. It allows me to go to one dashboard, enter one update, and have it syndicated to all or a number of the Social Media platforms that you use (eight for me…at present). Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Technology: For Microsoft Outlook, Xobni Rocks!
December 8th, 2009 categories: Business, Technology
One of the best products I have come across this year is called Xobni.com or Inbox backwards. If you use Microsoft Outlook and have spent loads of time trying to move from an email, into contacts to find the emailer’s phone number, or to search for documents you might have sent, or appointments that you may have made….You can do it all with the Xobni sidebar. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
What I learned at National Association of REALTORS Conference San Diego 2009.
December 7th, 2009 categories: Business, Economy, Email, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Technology
REBarCampSD 2009:
We arrived a few days early and were able to take in some of the sites of San Diego and the REBarCamp San Diego thanks to the great work of Jim Marks and his team. REBarCamps are quite a phenomenon in the Real Estate Social Media World. They were begun by Todd Carpenter , Andy Kaufman , Mike Price and Brad Coy , four energetic and crazy guys who decided that a “Un-conference” that gathered the best minds in the field in a large space with lots of viewpoints for a day of discussion might be fun. Little did they know that the idea would grow with BarCamps held across the States in one year culminating in the largest, held at the nightclub “Stingaree” in San Diego? It was my forth in the past year, filled with knowledge, networking and great conversation. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
This Morning’s Rant About Sales and Customer Service.
December 1st, 2009 categories: Business, Economy, Lifestyle, Technology
As you will be able to tell, I am somewhat frustrated with my wireless service. It’s always a problem for those of us in sales when we try to provide great service and other parts of the sales equation let us down…however…enough is enough…
Can you relate? “I’m mad as HELL, and I’m not going to take it anymore!!”
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