How to Tell If You’re Talking to a Bot In 2018, Twitter took drastic action as part of an effort to slow the spread of misinformation through its platform, shutting down more than two million automated accounts, or bots. But Twitter shuttered only the most egregious, and obvious, offenders. You […]

When the patterns are read correctly, statistics can be a very useful tool. Things can be very deceiving if the numbers aren’t appropriately analyzed. There are many ways to spin the numbers and it’s easy to fall into this trap. Here at Parker Associates and with the help of PTC […]

Foundations of Recovery Although it might not seem like it in this moment, the foundation of your recovery from this emergency is already being laid. Every crisis evolves over an arc of time, through stages of “what was,” “what is,” and “what will be.” The present, “what is,” gets most […]

What’s Ahead for the Economy Ok, so no one has a crystal ball. But, we can take some pretty good guesses at what’s on the horizon. Of course, much of it depends on some critical things going on nationally and globally. One thing’s not going away any time soon, the […]

Most states are financially healthy Most states’ financial health is looking up, thanks to the long bull market in stocks and a decade of steady economic growth that has lifted tax receipts. Most are boosting spending this year while still adding to rainy-day funds. Outlays are up 5% on average. […]

The Importance of Cap Rates The integral question, if you don’t know, is what is a cap rate? Now, mathematically, a capitalization rate (or “cap rate”) is an asset’s unlevered net cash flow divided by its value or purchase price.  It can also be thought of as the reciprocal of […]

Many Builders are Getting Away with Vague Statements Many builders use the term “energy-efficient” to describe their homes when in fact they include very limited energy efficiency features or appliances. Don’t be fooled. Get a builder who takes energy-efficiency beyond the typical bare minimum by using holistic energy saving techniques […]

Make a Lasting First Impression Thanks for the advice, I know. But, there are a ton of great ads that have been created through the years and so many of them fall short of this simple construct. With the Super Bowl coming up, it’s a good opportunity to talk about […]

With 2020 ahead of us, we should take a look at the housing market and how it will continue to boom. Texas and Florida are still two of the best housing markets to be in, but there are some other big booming markets relative to their share of the market […]

In a recent interview with the President of PTC Computer Solutions, David Parker, Biz Buzz host, David Sillick, discovers the future of Social Marketing. Not in the traditional means seen to date, but in utilizing Social Marketing to Micro Market to very small and specific Psychographic Sectors of the population. […]

Don’t Forget to Bury Your Digital Life Your digital footprint—including photos and videos, social media accounts, subscriptions, and online bills—will eventually outlive you, leaving family and estate executors to sift through the virtual remains. An executor does not automatically gain access to the accounts unless the deceased person has made […]

With 2020 ahead of us, we should take a look at the housing market and how it will continue to boom. Texas and Florida are still two of the best housing markets to be in, but there are some other big booming markets relative to their share of the market […]

Demographics Are Useless but Psychographics Aren’t Marketers everywhere (should) already know their target market demographics – the easily quantifiable ‘who’, ’what’ and ’where?’. But a growing number of us are realizing that psychographics – the elusive reasons ’why’ our customers buy from us – are not only far more valuable, […]

Winter Buyers PTC Computer Solutions is always looking at data for our customers and for us to have a better idea of what people are looking for. We often attend Ideal Living conferences to ascertain what people are involved in and what they tend towards. In this recent report from […]

A Time to Reflect…and Reset The holidays always offers a time for us to pause and reflect on the good…and bad…times we’ve had in the past year or even further. As with every year, we at Parker Associates & PTC Computer Solutions wish you the best of holidays and an […]

Make 4 Agreements with Yourself In business, being honest with your customer is one of the most important attributes a business can have. In today’s day and age, more than any other time in history, this is critical. People are smart. People are informed. People see through anything that isn’t […]

The Importance of Planning It’s a question that everyone agrees is important. However, a surprising number of people, and companies, don’t do a very good job of planning, if they plan at all. We run across it all the time in Real Estate Development. And, with some projects, there are […]

Success in Business Relies on Avoiding Distraction The Medieval Monks taught us a few key lessons. They understood long ago How to Reduce Digital Distractions. Yes! Digital Distractions. In this excerpt from an online article, there are many tricks to be learned. The Medieval Monks came up with some pretty […]

6 Steps to Successful Projects In an economic environment where everything is clicking smoothly, we sometimes forget to plan sufficiently. 2020 may prove to be a turning point in planning. If you aren’t planning ahead sufficiently AND properly, you may find yourself in a bit of a pickle, to use […]

Doing the Right Thing is Imperative to Doing Right In any given situation, doing the right thing might be the result of good habits cultivated over a lifetime or might come about only after periods of trial and error, painful soul-searching or courageous risk-taking. Doing the right thing is directly […]

Resilience in 2020 We at PTC are always looking to the future. It’s the way businesses survive. Looking to the past is helpful, but having a feel for the future is critical. Of course, no one knows for sure what is going to happen, but let’s take an educated guess […]

Don’t Let the Holidays and Holiday Traffic Walk By With the holidays here, there are a number of people out shopping and looking around for all sorts of things. Don’t let them walk on by, capture them with a few straightforward ideas. Making an impression during the holidays is a […]

The 3 Layers of Text We do a lot of writing at PTC for our clients. Between maintaining SEO and managing the Social Media of many, many clients, we have to put writing content at the top of the list of importance. It’s because of this that we have to […]

Home-building activity soars 12% to the fastest pace in more than a decade The home building activity continues to ramp up, but the team at Parker Associates is concerned about the election year downturn coming up. Traditionally, there is a fall off of home purchasing during an election year, especially […]

Home Tech Takeover More front doors in your neighborhood will soon sport video doorbells as more homeowners and renters seek the security of 24/7 surveillance. An camera to help with outdoor security in your home, and users can tap into live HD video from anywhere. The latest devices feature a […]

The Jobs Going Offsite Remote work is already going mainstream. 17% of workers do most or all of their jobs from home or from some nonwork location. 36% of the workforce does at least a little bit of telework. Knowledge-based jobs are especially suited to being performed off-site…programming, marketing, writing, […]

A Step by Step Guide to Being Successful At PTC, we hear it all the time. “Why isn’t my website successful?” or “Why am I not getting any business?” It’s seems like a simple question to ask, but it’s very complex. There is no “one” reason as to why you […]

Mortgage Rates to Stay Low According to recent information from experts, U.S. home-price gains will accelerate through 2020. This source goes on to state that mortgage rates likely will stay below 4% through 2020. The team here at Parker Associates agrees that the market continues to look favorable for growth. […]

Key Differences Between the Generations Generational differences are exciting to compare and contrast and sometimes the results may be surprising. Such differences have been the constant focus of many researchers, especially with regard to understanding how spending patterns and work values have changed over time. Baby boomers and millennials are […]

Strategies for developing a successful marketing campaign Today, marketers have more choices than ever regarding how and where to promote or advertise products and services. In addition to traditional methods, such as print advertising and direct marketing, you have email marketing, Web-based advertising and multiple social media sites, such as […]

A Step by Step Guide to Redesign What catches your eye when you browse online? A website’s logo? Was it the color? Or perhaps you’re really interested in a certain post? Now ask yourself: Is there something (hopefully more than one thing) on your own website that will have someone […]

6 Things to Remember When Building an Integrated Marketing Campaign Social media has become a fundamental part of integrated marketing campaigns for all sorts of businesses. Having a strategy is critical. Read on for some key tips and best practices for any business, including a non-profit, wanting to run an […]

Top 11 Website Redesign Questions It’s part of the world today and continues to be one of the top marketing strategies. It is hard to admit that your website is ugly or isn’t performing. But, chances are if you’re reading this article, it’s probably the truth. Your digital baby, if […]

The Key to a Good Mortgage The loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is a crucial factor if you’re buying a home and applying for a mortgage. So what exactly is this loan-to-value ratio, or LTV? An LTV ratio is simply the amount of money you borrow from your lender, divided by the […]

8 Easy SEO Best Practices At PTC Computer Solutions, we are constantly being asked to help make websites more visible to the Search Engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process you can apply in the creation of — or as ongoing maintenance to — your website. SEO affects your […]