Blog Entries

Building IKEA

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0100

I spent the weekend helping my daughter move into her first apartment and get ready for this year at university. We visited IKEA to furnish the place. From the parking lot to the playground inside the store, the entire place was packed.

I’ve only been to IKEA a few times, but I’ve always been fascinated about the concept and how IKEA connects with their customers, anywhere in the world. I was in the IKEA in Montreal this weekend; however, I’ve seen IKEA not only across Canad [...]

Reconnected - Back on Blogging

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0100

It’s great to get back to blogging after being “disconnected” for 10 days. I want to thank Kathleen for keeping information flowing on the blog and the 1to1REAL and PedBot Team for their work at staying connected while I was unwinding.

There are times to be connected and times to be disconnected. We should all [...]

7 Easy Tips to Concentrate and Focus

info@cmaeon.com — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Every blogger and writer has had days when even writing a sentence was fraught with distractions. The mind wanders, emails demand attention, you get another text message… all of a sudden it’s been 2 hours and you’re still staring at a blank screen.

Why is it so hard to write one small blog post? You’re procrastin [...]

Why Small Businesses Shouldn’t Get CRM

info@cmaeon.com — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0100

One of the most popular CRM solutions in the world will tell you to automate your sales force, ditch the software and get your reps selling instead of administrating. Sounds good, right? Except for one small hitch… what if you’re the sales force? What if you don’t have reps, managers and executives to automate?

A small busines [...]

Bike Ride Fever

info@cmaeon.com — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Bike Ride Fever
Our CEO Tim is getting some time off this week – the CMAEON staff have taken over!
ost people know about Ride Your Bike to Work week. Typically it falls in May, and it’s a great way to get some exercise and to commute to work without building up an unhealthy amount of road rage. CMAEON has a lot of avid bike riders on staff, and we’re looking to commute. Many people never make the switch from driving to riding, so we’d like to give you a little encouragement.
Here [...]

Why Google isn’t the Right Solution for Your Business

info@cmaeon.com — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Google makes a big show of their informal motto, “don’t be evil” and we believe them. Google after all, makes a lot of money on search but then uses it to give away fabulous services like Gmail, Wave, Google Docs, Youtube, etc, etc.
Note: This blog post has been adapted by the CMAEON staff from notes our CEO Tim Va [...]

Turn your Market into a Connection - Generating Leads and Conversations

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0100

If a business considers its entire market (i.e., the unique values it business brings to a transaction that earns and keeps customers) – it quickly become apparent they have to go beyond CRM and the sales force, and start thinking long term.

By definition, the sales force sells and then leaves - until there is someth [...]

Should You Automate Your Marketing?

info@cmaeon.com — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Are you inclined to take blind leaps of faith when making important business decisions? You would think most companies wouldn’t do that in a million years, but the answers are surprising.

When choosing CRM solutions, many companies do make leaps of faith. Every day a business decides on a CRM system without identifyi [...]

Why You Need More than IQ to Manage Leads

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Imagine a business where a lead comes in, is entered into the CRM system and then… just sits there.

This lead, let’s call her Ms. Smith, didn’t come in through traditional channels, so she was routed through an employee who didn’t really know how to use the CRM system; the wrong ranking was assigned to Ms. Smith, so nobody knew she was a hot lead, ready to buy, and worst yet, no salesperson was assigned. Long story short, Ms. Smith sat there, unattended until she phoned back again. [...]

All this Connection Talk - what have we learned?

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0100

We have learned that getting people to "know about each other" is a difficult and full time job, and this is most likely the most difficult product to deliver for any business, no matter what size. "Knowing" about each other involves many stakeholders - marketers, business people, sales people, and financia [...]

Accurate Information and the Efficient Marketplace

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0100

This blog talks a lot about the Connected Market Space – a marketplace state we can get to when accurate and relevant information flows between all parties, enabling everyone to efficiently access to the information they want and need. Today, we have created some of the capability to create the Connected Market Space [...]

CRM3: what makes a CRM solution Work!

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0100

In past couple of weeks, this blog has talked a lot about how CRM can go bad. If your business has a CRM system that focuses only on features, and not actually connecting you to your customers, you have bad CRM. It’s likely wasting your time and money and failing to achieve its objectives.
So what is good CRM? We invented CRM3: a system that connects, completes and continues the relationships; handles requests, revisits and relates with customers; and manages, markets and messages for [...]

The Future of Information on the Internet – Word of Mouth, Responsible Connections

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0100

In today’s world there is almost no need for journalists, and no need for ink on paper. This is not to say ink and paper will go away - they won't. They are great comforts, like junk food, or mom's cooking. No matter how bad it is for us, - there is something satisfying about a burger, a big fat piece of home-made chocolate cake. We'll eat it, just in moderation. And then we'll go exercise, or eat better for the rest of the week.

Today, the equivalent in information i [...]

Why Your CRM Solution is Killing Your Business

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Read any white paper or marketing brochure for a CRM system and it will have an extensive list of features. Contact management? Check! Customer Tracking? Yup! Project Management? OK! Report generation? Got it! Email? Sure, why not! The list goes on and on.

However, what many people don’t understand when they’re looking for a CRM solution is that the feat [...]

Everyone is connected – will you use this power for good or evil?

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:00:00 +0100

For better or for worse, it has been proven over and over again in the last two years that everything and everyone in the world is connected.

Of course, we are all connected in the online ecosystem, plugged into each other with social networking sites, search engines and blogs. The unprecedented scale at which we freely share information about ourselves has given rise to a new concern – are we are too connected? Do we really want people to know all about everything we’re doing al [...]

How to Turn a Social Conversation into Lead Generation

kathleen.devere@cmaeon.com — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:00:00 +0100

CMAEON's CEO Tim Vasko just returned from New York, where he was invited to speak at the REMarTech conference. One of the presentations he was asked to give was on social media, and how it in particular, is changing the way the Real Estate industry is using the Internet to generate leads, find qualified buyers, and market itself.

Tim's talk, titled Social Conversation Lead Generation, covered some of the most common questions from Real Estate agents about social media: How do you ma [...]

Don't Just Build Another Website - Build a Web Portal

kathleen.devere@cmaeon.com — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:00:00 +0100

CMAEON's CEO Tim Vasko was recently invited to speak at the REMarTech Conference in New York City. The goal of the conference was to connect the real estate world to the technology and tools that are shaping its future.

On that matter, Tim delivered a keynote presentation entitled 'Web Portal Magic'. The basis was this:

“Don't just build a website – build a web portal that utilizes SEO, social media and interconnectivity to take your web presenc [...]

The Missing Connection: Comparing CRM to CRM? Why Feature Comparison Doesn’t Work

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:00:00 +0100

It makes no sense, for any business, to invest in technology based on a comparison of features. Today, the basic features of CRM are well-defined - any CRM will provide the basics of contact relationship management.

CRM has been around for more than a decade. It was originally designed as a tool to enable businesses to share information between sales and other various departments that dealt with customers. Those features are clear.

The next iterations of CRM were designed to [...]

Beyond CRM – Why Connected Companies Need Better Customer Relationship Management

tim.vasko@cmaeon.com — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Everyone today knows that CRM solutions save money and make moving information between employees, customer and clients much easier. Between 1999 and 2005, it seemed everyone was jumping on the CRM bandwagon – and with good reason – who doesn’t want to streamline their data capture and make more money?

However, more than 10 years into CRM, some interesting statistics start to emerge:

"55% - 75% of all CRM installs failed to achieve results or even go live..." (source: H [...]

Real Estate Search Marketing

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Lead generation has long been one of the most challenging parts of the real estate industry. Sourcing new clients can be time-consuming and expensive. Search marketing has provided new light and new hope for an industry. This new marketing channel provides an incremental approach to a field that has been historically plagued by high-cost print and media advertising campaigns.

Under the new real estate pay-per-click model, realtors and real estate companies pay only for completed click [...]