Too Many Choices
With constant advances in technology, the most difficult question facing the average real estate agent today seems to be which technologies they should take advantage first, which come last, and which might be a waste of time altogether.

Should you invest your money in upgraded hardware or buy new software? Will you make money with accessories like scanners and digital cameras? How much, if anything should you commit to the Internet and email communications?

It would not be too difficult for most of us to make a to-do list of the top 100 ways to spend money on technology. However, who would have the time and money to implement that list? Lot's of people spend money on technology. How many really make more money by wisely investing in it?

Investing In Technology
If you really want to make more money with the new opportunities that technology offers, then you need to start thinking about it as an on-going investment and budget accordingly. Successful business people invest in education, marketing and technology on a continual basis. Like it or not, technology is an ever growing part of our future, and the future is not something you buy once and then possess for years on end.

How much to invest every year is going to depend on where you are on the technology curve right now, where you want to be, and when. As an extreme example: I personally invest more on computers and related technology each year than on I spend on my car; and that's including maintenance and insurance. While this may seem preposterous to many business people, my rate of return on these dollars is greater than any other investment I have ever made. The car doesn't even come close.

However, not every dollar spent on technology is going to be a guaranteed great investment. I've made some pretty poor choices in investing both time and money in technology that did not reap any real rewards - but mostly it's the time that is the most expensive investment. As you may already know, it's very easy to spend 20 hours learning a $20 program and not have any real productivity gains to show for the effort.

What To Do & When To Do It
The following groups represent the most logical order of technology growth for most sales people. There is no set order within each group, as this will vary from person to person. However, for the vast majority of agents, completion of the "A List" should occur before even considering investing in the "B List." Additionally, there is no reason to believe that you must, or even should, do all of the following. This is simply a ranking of what technology investments are most likely to result in increased production, and therefore yield a positive return.

The A List (next)
The B List
The C List

Stephen M. Canale, CRB, CRS, GRI, RAM is a real estate educator and trainer from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In addition to serving on the GRI faculty for the Michigan and Tennessee REALTOR® Associations, Stephen offers a wide variety of seminars on sales, technology and marketing.  For more information on his educational offerings visit: www.canale.com or contact him at either 734-481-9000 or Stephen@Canale.com