The rainy June day started sleepy and a bit disheveled, as most traditional conferences do, when we arrived at the Back Bay Center to begin setting up our Exhibitor Table. BarCampers were slow to arrive, and cautious to post or host unpopular topics on the big empty whiteboard – but the afternoon turned out to be anything but traditional or underwhelming!

In fact, it was refreshingly noisy, social and unbarring. It almost seemed as if the vibe in the room was mimicking the very nature of the subject we all came to discuss: integrating social media into our businesses, relationships and accepting it as the new fabric of our lives. While the process feels messy and begs a substantial humility of sorts, the end result is one that’s honest and produces eye-opening results.

Our CEO and Founder, David Friedman, led the pack with what he called “A Realtor Wake-Up Call: You’ve Been Looking at Social Media the Wrong Way”.

This seemed to be just the caffeine everyone needed as thoughts and theories began to open up about the future path of the technology tornado. One Agent expressed his concern that the role of the realtor may soon become altogether inconsequential, as social channels bypass directly to the buyer and seller. Some participants seemed more weary than others of the trend, as Union Street Media’s Founder, Ted Adler, added his belief that social media “makes it harder to be bad at your job”- but David offered a final sentiment by expressing that “social media doesn’t have an agenda, nor does it have a conscience- it’s just a tool”- a tool that will only bypass us if we let it.

From left: David Friedman, Spencer Taylor, Sven Andersen

The following session on social media presented the question, “what’s working?”- a tag-team effort by David, Spencer Taylor of Union Street Media, and Sven Andersen of RE/MAX. Sven shared an interesting notion with the group that his most effective marketing technique was the ‘personal touch’ achieved from throwing lavish or family-friendly client parties- and that social media tools like Yelp and Facebook came in a close second.

A dialogue then began about the value and ROI of  ‘community management’ techniques, such as partnering with local vendors to send out an “Angie’s List” type magnet to neighbors through direct mail – or participating in local activities and then sharing those experiences through a Facebook profile. An interesting Twitter anecdote was also offered about a realtor who was recognized at a client showing from a Twitter profile and won the client’s business as a result. The discussion soon took a turn and shifted into a panel about how much information is appropriate to share- it seemed many of the realtors were most concerned about appropriate social media etiquette and how much ‘personal touch’ to offer up online. What I heard loud and clear is that a real estate agent’s hesitancy behind social networking can be largely attributed to the very fine line that exists between personal and business life.

So what did we discover at the end of the day?

For Boston Logic, the real take-away was this: it’s not about the tool or gimmick, or even the means – it’s the matter that matters and it’s the connection that counts. Whether a magnet sent through the mail, a client party thrown with a clown, a Yelp review, a Facebook “Like” or a Tweet on Twitter- it’s the rapport that can be drawn from these frequencies that actually pushes a relationship forward and helps a business grow. There’s a sense of commonality and familiarity still at the driving center of all social networking- and this is something technology will never succeed to bypass.

First, Remember: The best decision isn’t always going to yield a successful outcome. Every action has some (albeit sometimes small) odds of yielding a bad outcome. All we can do is work with the information at hand .

Decision: a, b, or c - come to a group decision and move on.

Follow these steps in order. Discuss the options among your co-workers. If after any of these steps all but one option has been eliminated, make that your decision and move on!

1. If there are true roadblocks to any of the options, are they valid roadblocks? Or should these obstacles be ignored in making this decision or should we assume we'll be able to deal with these obstacles. If they are true roadblocks making that choice impossible or too costly, eliminate those choices first.

2. Establish decision making criteria. What are we trying to achieve? What are our goals? What is the priority order for these goals? Do these options align with our goals and priorities. If a choice or choices doesn’t meet the goals, eliminate that option.

3. Do we have any quantitative evidence to lend to this decision? If there's good, reliable, statistically significant data to suggest one option over another, rely on that, make the decision dictated by the data, move on.

4. List pros and cons for each choice. If the pros far outweigh the cons of any one choice, that is probably the best choice. If the cons far outweigh the pros, eliminate that choice.

5. Do we have overwhelming anecdotal evidence? Make sure the squeaky wheel isn't just getting the grease. Assuming we no quantitative data but have multiple experiences, hearsay, hunches, pieces of evidence, and zeitgeist to suggest a course of action, follow the overwhelming evidence.

It’s critical to remember that many decisions will yield outcomes that you didn’t intend. If the outcome is negative, take this as a new piece of evidence or data, re-evaluate, and change course. Don't think that this makes your decision wrong. It just makes the outcome poor. Many decisions are not "If a, then b." If they were, then all outcomes would be understood and decision making wouldn't be a challenge at all.

Lastly, don't get caught in analysis paralysis. You may make an imperfect choice. If you can minimize your risk, then all you'll risk missing out on is an optimized outcome. That's often ok. Most of the time, you'll probably make a great choice and you'll be happy that you're reaping the benefits sooner, rather than later.

At the recent South By South West (SXSW) conference, a swanky exposition for internet dweebs and geeks like me, Google insider Matt Cutts revealed that Google’s search algorithm—the method by which Google spider’s it’s content for search queries—is changing.  Again.

The so-called Panda Algorithm is putting a renewed emphasis not only on content, but on social syndication of content.  What does this mean for your brokerage?

Simple: with a website on Boston Logic’s powerful Sequoia Platform, you can easily push your original content, like blogs and listings, out to your social media site.  With a few clicks of a button you can let your followers to “Like”, retweet or syndicate that content further. Boston Logic seamlessly integrates the fun experience of social networking page and takes them into the transactional experience of looking for a home on your brokerage’s website.   Just like that.

Actually, we anticipated such a shift in the Google social search change.  How do you know?  Take a look:

Boston Logic can already put a search right into your Facebook Fan page.  When performed, you have them right to your site, ready to sign in as a lead.  Hello, new customer!

It’s all so seamless and easy.  I’m actually one of the least tech savvy people I know, and even I can do it.  But even if you still think you can't, Boston Logic has you covered.  Our Social Media Accelerator can do it for you.  We can syndicate your valuable content to your social media sites, so you can speak to your clients and convert Twitter hashtags into new homeowners!

To find out how to leverage this power to leave your competition behind (or below you) and stay ahead of the curve, you can request a no-pressure demo by emailing Patrick at pberzai@bostonlogic.com.

Ruby On Rails Web Developer Position:

Who You Are:

• You have the desire to learn new technologies
• Highly intelligent and creative
• Comfortable working in a fast paced – sometimes high pressure – changing environment.
• You learn new technologies quickly and thrive in a fast paced environment.
• You can work both in a team environment as well as individually.
• You have strong technical and coding skills.

Your Skills:

• Experience in gathering project requirements and developing a feature set
• Experience with AJAX technologies
• Experience building dynamic, database driven websites
• Excellent communication skills
• Deep technical skills

Techie Things You Know:

• Knowledge of the MVC framework architecture and Object Oriented Programming
• Knowledge of at least 1 Javascript framework, preferably jQuery or Prototype/Scriptaculous
• Familiarity with Linux and demonstrate a grasp of working with the command line
• Knowledge of relational databases and SQL, preferably MySQL
• Previously worked with at least one Source Control Management tool
• Fluent in HTML and CSS

What You Will Do:

• Interaction with clients, project managers, designers, developers, marketing associates and our sales team are all in a day’s work.
• Play a role in the planning, execution and success of client engagements as well as internal development projects.
• Write Ruby on Rails code every day.
• If you do not know Ruby on Rails, learn Ruby and the Rails framework in a relatively short period of time to contribute to the team.

About the Company:

Boston Logic is a technology and marketing consultancy providing web development, online marketing, and IT consulting services. We are looking for a dynamic technologist to join our team as a Developer. This is an opportunity to play a significant role in a rapidly growing company.

Is This You? Apply Now!

Submit your resume, cover letter, salary requirements and code samples, in the language of their choice to: techjobs@bostonlogic.com.

RESUMES WITHOUT CODE SAMPLES WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED

The event, "Tools of the Trade", is designed for attendees to learn about current applications used for SEO, PPC, and Social Media. During the event,  attendees will hear a brief overview of each participating SEO vendor specialist, and can visit with each vendor for demos and to gain in-depth information on their products. We'll also be talking about our newest and most popular services, The Social Media Accelerator. SEMPO members attend for free, and non-members pay $10.

The event starts at 7:30 AM at Constant Contact’s offices in Waltham:

Reservoir Place
1601 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02451

Here is the itinerary for this great networking opportunity:

7:30 – 8:00 am - Breakfast and networking

8:00 am - Scott Smigler, SEMPO Boston co-chair opening remarks

8:15 am - Vendors presentation to entire room of attendees, including Boston Logic.

9:00 am – 10:00 am - Attendees visit with vendors at the table-tops displays

So if you are interested in the real estate web design and real estate internet marketing services provided by Boston Logic, this event is the perfect opportunity to meet with us to discuss potential ways to leverage SEO best practices for success. Visit the SEMPO Marketing event site for more information.

We hope to see you there!