Inman

Hear Vanessa Bergmark share how she’s building the next-generation broker business model

This Wednesday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to noon PDT, Inman Select members will get exclusive access to the inaugural Select Live event — a live-stream conference that will feature some of the top minds in the industry sharing insights on market conditions, behaving like a leader, growing like a startup, authentic marketing, becoming as tech-savvy as your clients and learning how to digitally target your customers.

Check out the full Select Live agenda; it’s included free with Inman Select membership. Learn more about the event and sign up online, then tune in next Wednesday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to noon PDT.

In 2007, when one of Red Oak Realty’s owners called with an offer to run their intensely local company, Vanessa Bergmark signed up. Her success led her to an ownership position in the company: broker-owner. Vanessa has built a national reputation as an innovator who is building the next-generation broker business. She holds a California real estate license and a bachelor’s degree from Penn State.

Vanessa Bergmark

We asked her three questions about how she gets and stays ahead in real estate. Here’s what she had to say:

1. What’s the one thing you’re doing this year to get and stay ahead?

I’m doing two things: I’m watching the migration patterns of buyers in the [San Francisco] Bay Area — very closely — and I’m paying serious attention to the millennial and Generation Z generations.

2. What one piece of advice has helped you get and stay ahead in your career?

Limit my intake of advice. If you are constantly seeking advice and input from others, you lose sensitivity toward your own intuition. I surround myself with smart, thoughtful people whom I constantly learn from. Often, I incorporate their techniques in my own. They are a powerful influence. But when it really comes down to my career, my company and my parenting, I stick to what drives me, my own controversial beliefs, and my own action plan on how I will get there.

3. What trend are you keeping an eye on for the coming year?

I’m all over everything visual these days. Photography, video, and my favorite invention in the last decade: filters. I think there is a lot of interesting opportunities in marketing for our industry focusing almost purely on imagery. And if Pinterest is really valued at $11 billion dollars, I think everyone should consider keeping “an eye” (pun intended) on that trend.

Check out the full Select Live agenda; it’s included free with Inman Select membership. Learn more about the event and sign up online, then tune in next Wednesday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to noon PDT.