WAV Group's Kevin Hawkins Accepted Into Forbes Real Estate Council
SEATTLE, Aug. 22, 2017 -- Kevin Hawkins, President of WAV Group Communications, has been accepted into the Forbes Real Estate Council, an invitation-only community for executives in the real estate industry. Hawkins, award-winning strategic communications veteran, joins other Forbes Real Estate Council members, who are hand-selected, to become part of a curated network of successful peers and gain access to a variety of exclusive benefits and resources, including the opportunity to submit thought leadership articles and short tips on industry-related topics for publishing on Forbes.com. Forbes Councils combines an innovative, high-touch approach to community management perfected by the team behind Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) with the extensive resources and global reach of Forbes. As a result, Forbes Council members get access to the people, benefits, and expertise they need to grow their businesses — and a dedicated member concierge who acts as an extension of their own team, providing personalized one-on-one support. Hawkins, who runs the public relations and strategic marketing communications division for the WAV Group, Inc., based in Arroyo Grande, California, said, "It is vital for real estate companies today to build trust through effective communications and becoming part of the Forbes Real Estate Council and having an opportunity to significantly raise awareness about the importance of strategic communication is energizing," said Hawkins. "The visibility and networking opportunities the Forbes Real Estate Council provides is truly unique and our hope at the WAV Group is that it will expand our reach within an industry we know deeply," he added. Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, says, "We are honored to welcome Kevin Hawkins into the community. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to curate successful professionals from every industry, creating a vetted, social capital-driven network that helps every member make an even greater impact on the business world." Named one of real estate's most influential leaders for 2017 by Inman News, the number one real estate news site, Hawkins leads the WAV Group's efforts to expand and deepen the communications services provided to leading Multiple Listing Services, REALTOR® Associations, top real estate brokerages, and real estate technology firms. Victor Lund and Marilyn Wilson, two of the most well-known and respected business consultants in real estate, run WAV GROUP, which they established in 2004. Hawkins joined WAV Group in 2015 to run its communications division. He has successfully launched and promoted hundreds of new business and consumer products and services in residential real estate, mortgage finance and technology sectors, transforming communications programs for small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as Fortune 500 companies. Among his current clients are Real Estate Standards Organization or RESO, based in Raleigh, North Carolina; Florida Realtors® technology firms Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline, based in Orlando, Florida; innovative mortgage lending and wealth management firm Opes Advisors, a Division of Flagstar Bank, based in Cupertino, California; HomesUSA.com and Ben Caballero, the #1 real estate agent in America, ranked by REAL Trends, based in Addison, Texas; hot new startup zavvie, the nation's first hyperlocal marketing platform for real estate agents, based in Boulder, Colorado; Imprev, America's largest marketing technology company, based in Bellevue, Washington; and Gabriels Technology Solutions, the world's leading authority on luxury real estate websites, based in New York, New York. WAV Group Communications also provides PR consulting services for a number of other real estate technology firms including FBS, creators of FlexMLS; Quality Services Certification, Inc. and RatedAgent.com; Property Panorama and its category-leading virtual tour platform InstaView; leading marketing and technology service provider Elm Street Technology; IDX website leader AgentSquared, and others. Previously, Hawkins held marketing, communications and leadership positions at Fannie Mae, CHASE (then Great Western Bank), HomeGain, Inman News, and helped Inman establish its first Real Estate Connect conferences. He also headed up Communications and Marketing at Imprev, Inc. As an award-winning freelance writer, Hawkins authored more than 50 magazine feature stories on the leaders of the real estate industry and emerging technologies at both California Real Estate magazine and Real Estate Technology magazine. He won the only two writing awards offered to non-journalists from the prestigious National Association of Real Estate Editors, and two NAREE Presidents recognized his volunteer efforts with two "President's Awards." He is a graduate of the University of Miami, Florida and completed his graduate studies at the University of Southern California, toward a Master of Public Relations degree at the USC School of Journalism. Today he serves on the Council of Multiple Listing Services Marketing and Communications Section Council. He also is a marketing mentor for FIRST Robotics Team 4915 Spartronics, a world-championship competing high school robotics team from Bainbridge Island, Washington outside of Seattle. About Forbes Councils Forbes partnered with the founders of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) to launch Forbes Councils, invitation-only communities for world-class business professionals in a variety of industries. Members, who are hand-selected by each Council's community team, receive personalized introductions to each other based on their specific needs and gain access to a wide range of business benefits and services, including best-in-class concierge teams, personalized connections, peer-to-peer learning, a business services marketplace, and the opportunity to share thought leadership content on Forbes.com. For more information about Forbes Real Estate Council, visit https://forbesrealestatecouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com. About WAV Group WAV Group has a depth of experience in technology, strategic planning, research, business development, sales, product development and marketing in the real estate industry. Its partners have collectively launched over 25 businesses and have led several hundred business process evaluations and system installations in North America, Europe and Asia. WAV Group has created significant increases in sales and profits for Fortune 100 to start-up companies and includes some of the largest MLSs in North America, International real estate franchise organizations, technology companies and trade associations. Its diverse collection of global industry experience allows the WAV Group to cross-fertilize ideas and bring best of breed solutions to its clients. Discover more at www.wavgroup.com.

Adwerx offers free real estate marketing consultations to agents
  What is marketing advice for real estate worth to you — if you don't have to pay for it? Some folks would say that you get what you pay for. But in the case of Adwerx, you are paying. With your time. Anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes of it. Marketing consultations are complimentary for customers. And every now and then, we offer them to non-customers, too. For instance, Adwerx gave away 10 hours of consultation time to non-customers at the NAR 2016 event in Florida. Solving problems and making plans The team of marketing specialists at Adwerx enjoy the conversations they get to have with our customers. And they approach those meetings from a service perspective — seeking to help our customers succeed. "We make sure our customers are thinking strategically about their marketing, and not just throwing money around," said Matt, who is part of the Adwerx team. Jordan, another team member, was able to help one agent pinpoint her target audience. "She didn't really know who she was trying to reach," she said. "So I asked about her best client. Then we created a profile of her target audience based on that persona and talked about how all her marketing could reflect that target. She was super excited." Learn more about how to create a real estate client persona here. These consultations would have a hefty hourly rate attached to them at any brand consulting firm. But it's something that Adwerx offers for free — even before agents become customers. "We really want our customers to win," said Jed Carlson, Adwerx CEO. "And if that means doing a little bit of work to identify a how our products fit in your overall strategy, we're happy to do it." Here's what you'll expect with a marketing consultation from Adwerx: Examine your overall strategy. What other tactics do you use? Take a high-level look at your Adwerx campaign if you already have one. Overview of industry standards for digital ads. Identify your audience and what motivates them. Create messaging to speak to that audience. Optimize your landing page experience to work with your ad. To view the original post, visit the Adwerx blog.

PCMS Consulting Successfully Evolves A La Carte, Solution Based Model
Leading real estate solutions provider, PCMS Consulting, continues to evolve its à la carte model after another successful year in 2013. The company offers best-in-class technology solutions and real estate consulting to brokerages nation-wide. PCMS will add several new solutions in 2014 while continuing to refine its consulting, Internet marketing, lead response, and brand loyalty platforms. "We're planning a much bigger emphasis on turnkey solutions for real estate brokerages this year. Specifically businesses that are looking to generate more leads through their online channels," states Jose Perez, Founder and President of PCMS Consulting. "Every brokerage wants to improve ROI on all their marketing and technology investments. But they're particularly focused on money they budget for Internet marketing. They want to know how much they need to spend to drive, capture, and retain consumers online. We offer the tools and expertise brokerages need for online marketing and brand building." States Victor Lund of WAV Group, "Before PCMS came along, brokers had to manage systems integration on their own or hire a firm like WAV Group to shepherd the process. PCMS has assembled some great technology systems that pull tools and brokers together in one place." PCMS Consulting is the exclusive reseller for three highly regarded technology firms: Terabitz, One Cavo, and NextDeal. Terabitz, an early innovator in real estate Internet solutions, provides enterprise web marketing platforms for medium to large brokerages. 2013 highlights for the Silicon Valley company included the bold re-design of two long standing clients' sites, Nathan Grace Real Estate and Better Homes and Gardens Gary Greene. This year Terabitz plans to introduce several new features that promise to enhance the consumer experience. One Cavo, a lead response contact center for brokerages, responds to Internet leads from both brokerage and third parties sites. Their Rapid Response Team will scrub, then warm transfer Internet leads to the brokerage or agent within 15 minutes. In 2013 One Cavo introduced exclusive technology that tracks how well lead sources perform for their clients, as well as the performance of agents after lead transfer. In 2014, One Cavo will be launching a new lead conversion report that will track a lead from the time it enters the system to the time it closes. The first of its kind in the industry, it will allow brokerages to fully understand and improve ROI for their Internet marketing. NextDeal builds brand loyalty for brokerages of every size, helping agents effortlessly increase referrals and repeat business with their groundbreaking post-close marketing technology. Through NextDeal, brokerages and agents maintain a relationship with clients as long as they own their home. Using closing documents, the platform sends relevant email messages 6 – 8 times per year (i.e. mortgage interest information, homestead exemption reminders, etc.). NextDeal also tracks how often the homeowners access their closing documents and then notifies the broker and/or agent when a consumer might be back in the market. 2013 saw dramatic growth of the company now doing business in 40 states through their extensive title agency customer-base. 2014 will see a new release of NextDeal with added functionality granting brokerages greater control of their post-close relationships with consumers. With its many website and call center clients, PCMS Consulting is uniquely positioned to help brokerages determine how to better drive and engage traffic on their sites. The company is adding additional solutions to help brokerages gain or maintain market leadership online, and in 1Q 2014 will launch an audit service focused on real estate SEO and content marketing. "As we begin working with clients on their sites and lead response, we often uncover issues that they didn't know they had." comments Perez. "It makes a lot of sense for them to engage the firm that also works with their web vendor and/or call center." Other PCMS initiatives include a new version of its popular Camp REinvent™ idea sharing program. The program is geared to multi-office companies who want to maximize business in the recovering economy. The new Camp REinvent™ will feature tracks focused on where brokers will need to dominate over the next 2-5 years. Topics include the future of real estate marketing; where and/or when to spend budget dollars on trending tools and services (while avoiding fads); how brokers and agents can meet the expectations of today's sophisticated consumers, and Millennial homebuyers as a growing demographic.