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WINSTON-SALEM – About a dozen companies showed off a range of new products and services at a technology fair in Winston-Salem.

Sponsored by the Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors' Young Professionals Network, the fair was aimed at helping realtors and small business owners grow their businesses in the new year.

Industry professionals said if you're a realtor, it's no longer enough to buy space in a newspaper or put up lawn signs to sell a house. They said these days it takes a firm grasp of computer-based technology to stay on top of your game.

"With websites and Facebook and all the e-media rage that is really a marketing aspect of today's real estate market that we must take advantage of," said the association's Blake Ginther.

Companies including Voyss Solutions and Manna Video were on hand to help realtors take advantage of the developments in e-media.

"Anywhere you are with any device that you have that has Internet access, you have access to your personal information, your company information, so that your efficiencies have improved and you're not tied to an office," said Voyss' Kelly Woodruff.

"(You can) sit right in front of your computer, your laptop, send out a personalized video e-mail to all your customers," said Darin Griffin, Manna's sales manager.

Rick Tysinger of Time Warner Cable, News 14 Carolina's parent company, said efficiency is the name of the game.

"Their Internet speeds, their phone service, their dial tone. We're basically a total telecommunications provider,” Tysinger said. “We can talk to them about managing storage, managing security."

The fair drew people relatively new to the technology waters.

"I need somebody to tell me what they think I need and where I should start,” said Sharon Washington, a real estate agent.

And then there were veteran realtors who said the fair was a must to attend because technology had become the single most important component of successful real estate marketing.

"About 90 percent of all buyers or sellers find their realtor through technology, through the Internet, websites,” said Wayne Tharp of The Tharp Group. “Having yourself a website, connect it with Facebook, it's just tremendous."