Do you have an iPad? If you do like me, you probably have already discovered Flipboard – the world’s first social magazine app. I love Flipboard!

If you haven’t seen it yet, Flipboard allows users to compile their own personal publication by selecting and importing Twitter feeds, Facebook profiles and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds of their favorite websites.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate today announced yesterday that its twitter feed – @bhgrealestate – is featured content in the Business & Finance category of Flipboard .  @bhgrealestate was chosen for its “timely, informative news and interesting curation” according to editors of the popular iPad application.  What is really exciting about this is that Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate is currently the only real estate franchise featured in the Business and Finance category comprised of top business magazines, news wire services and thought leaders including Fast Company, CNN Money, Fortune, The Economist and Inc.

I added the @@bhgrealestate into my Flipboard and was really pleased with the content. Here are two screenshots from their app:

“Delivering timely information to the informed consumer and the next generation broker is especially important in this challenging market,” said Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC.  “Technology has always been core to our brand.  In particular, our social media strategy has continuously spurred new thinking and ideas with people who share a passion for the home, real estate and the lifestyle aspirations our brand stands for.  We are proud that our leading content is featured on Flipboard, an innovative technology that is a favorite among our brokers, clients and fans.”

The @bhgrealestate feed features news and opinions on housing, culture, and social and digital technology from the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate executive team.

Personally, I think this is an super smart and strategic marketing move by BH & G Real Estate. They keep staying one step ahead of the curve!

It is available here in the Apple iTunes App store.

Written by: Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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Did you check-in today on Foursquare? How about Facebook Places? Gowalla?

For me, “checking in” is a part of pretty much my daily routine. I love seeing where my friends and colleagues are checking into, I love all the “badges” and gaming aspect of it, and of course I love the specials that may places are now (finally) offering for those of us who check-in.

Checking in is becoming more and more popular. The latest ComScore report, released a few days ago revealed that nearly 1 in 5 smartphone owners access check-in services via their mobile device.

I was pretty amazed by that statistic. I remember just a little over a year ago – January 2010, sitting backstage at Real Estate Connect NYC and hearing Dennis Crowley explain Foursquare. At the time I had heard of it, had even downloaded the app onto my phone, but really didn’t “get it.” Fast-forward 14 months later, and now I’m a bit “check-in obsessed!”

Here are a few interesting facts from the report:

• 70 percent of mobile users are “checking-in” from an Android or Apple phone
• 16.7 million U.S. mobile subscribers used location-based “check-in” services on their phones in March 2011, representing 7.1 percent of the entire mobile population. 1
• 2.7 million check-in users did so on a smartphone, representing 17.6 percent of the smartphone population.

“Although still in their relative infancy, location-based mobile check-in services are seeing rather impressive adoption among smartphone users,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “The ability to interact with consumers on this micro-local level through special offers, deals and other incentives provides brands with the real-time opportunity to engage consumers through their mobile device.”

So who exactly is checking in? I sadly do not fall into this demographic anymore , but according to the report, 18-34 year-olds account for nearly 60% of check-in service user.

So how exactly does this affect real estate? Well, we are starting to see brokerages adopting creative social media strategies, like the ‘Race for the Home’ event that Prudential Georgia Realty is doing. They are a real estate brokerage based in metro Atlanta, and have teamed up with property search site HomeFinder.com and mobile gaming platform SCVNGR to offer some 500 prospective homebuyers the chance to compete for a $15,000 down payment on a home purchase. We’ve also see The Corcoran Group embrace Foursquare and is now a major brand on Foursquare. Foursquare fits beautifully into Corcoran’s core brand ideas in that the process of searching for a home is just as much about what’s outside of the 4 walls than it is inside.

Beyond checking in – I think there is a greater lesson here: mobile check-in service users display strong propensity for mobile media usage.

According to the report, more than 95 percent of check-in service users used their mobile browser or applications. Nearly 62 percent accessed news. Check-in user behavior was also consistent with that of traditional early adopters, with 40.3 percent of users accessing tech news and 28.2 percent owning a media tablet, both significantly higher than average.

Still wondering where I am going with this? Here’s my point – if 1 in 5 people who have a smartphone are “checking in” around town AND 60% of 18-34 year olds are checking in – then that means a huge portion of your clientele (or perhaps your clientele’s adult children who are also potential clients) are using mobile devices when searching for property.

Contrary to popular belief, a mobile version of your site is not just a smaller version of your site on a tiny screen! A mobile optimized version of your site is a site that displays information accurately and in an easy to read format on a smartphone. If your website is not mobile optimized – you are missing a HUGE portion of your audience. Do you get clients who talk to you about listings they saw on Realtor.com, Zillow or Trulia instead of your site or your broker site? Why do you think that is? This could be a whole other blog post in and of itself – but a possible reason is all of those sites are mobile optimized AND they all have awesome apps that make searching for homes for sale super easy.

What is really exciting is that optimizing your site for mobile is probably easier than most people would think. There are tons of qualified web designers out there that can do this for you and/or create an app for your site. Not sure where to start? Ask your colleagues? Post a note on Facebook that you are looking for local recomendations.

Creating a real estate app with MLS data is also easier than you think. Boopsie and Smarter Agent are two excellent real estate choices I would recommend.

What do you think is the future of the check-in and location based marketing? Is your site mobile optimized or do you have an app your clients can use to search for homes? I would really like to have a discussion about this and get your thoughts – please leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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I just became aware of a brand new product that will help real estate professionals manage leads and track phone calls.

This new product is the first voice-marketing automation platform specifically tailored to members of the National Association of REALTORS® – it is called Ifbyphone®.

Ifbyphone®, a voice-based marketing automation platform, announced on Monday, the launch of its newest product, Ifbyphone® for REALTORS®.

Why is Ibyphone?

Ifbyphone frees agents and brokers from deskwork by automating voice-based marketing. According to their press release:

“Agents can then use Ifbyphone® for REALTORS® to connect with hot leads faster, optimize marketing spend, and most importantly, close more deals. The product was created in collaboration with NAR and offered through NAR’s REALTOR Benefits® Program.”

Ifbyphone® for REALTORS® is delivered as a suite of software-as-a-service voice applications that includes:

• Call tracking
• Dynamic inbound call forwarding
• Outbound call automation
• Virtual call center solutions.

All are easily set up by the broker or agent, freeing up more time with clients and prospects.

“Using Ifbyphone® for REALTORS®, agents can focus on clients and prospects while Ifbyphone is handling the forwarding and tracking of leads,” said Irv Shapiro, CEO and founder of Ifbyphone®. “Real estate agents can spend the majority of their time in the field, responding to those leads, managing customer relations and working toward more sales, while maintaining a nimble virtual office with Ifbyphone®,” he added.

One of Ifbyphone’s powerful marketing tools, SourceTrak™ call tracking, provides agents and brokers access to comprehensive, real-time call reports. The automatically generated reports reveal exactly where marketing efforts are most effective. By tracking lists of unique phone numbers across online media, lawn signs, and print ads, Ifbyphone® records exactly where leads are originating. Agents and brokerages can then use the reports to more efficiently allocate marketing dollars.

Ifbyphone also turns “clickers into callers” by instantaneously calling the listing agent when a prospect submits a Web form. This “call form” then “whispers” to the agent the listing information and where the prospect saw the ad. If the agent is part of a listing team, Ifbyphone can dial each team member in sequence or all at once.

Other exclusive features of Ifbyphone® for REALTORS® include:

• Forward calls to an individual agent or to an agent team
• Leave client- or listing-specific memos, then review from anywhere
• Qualify callers through voice response so the appropriate agent connects with the with the right person
• Manage “floor time” remotely and free agents from the office by using an “on call” application with smart forwarding capabilities
• Leverage lead measurement and reporting through Ifbyphone’s industry-leading SourceTrak™

The announcement of the new product comes four months after the National Association of REALTORS® invested in Ifbyphone through its strategic investment fund, Second Century Ventures. As part of the arrangement, the National Association of REALTORS® sought to collaborate with Ifbyphone® to develop solutions that enhance voice interactions for its 1.1 million members.

To learn more about Ifbyphone® for REALTORS®, visit the Ifbyphone® website or contact Ifbyphone® directly at (877) 295-5100.

What do you think? Is this a technology that you will use? I’d love your feedback, leave me a comment below!

Written by:  Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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One of the best parts about Facebook business pages are the ability to add custom tabs. For a while, real estate agents were somewhat limited to what type of tabs and apps were available specifically to them and their needs. Recently, we are seeing more and more companies come out with options and tabs specifically for Realtors’ Facebook pages. Just announced yesterday on their blog, Zillow has expanded its free package of Web tools and is now offering Facebook Tabs.

According to their blog,

“Zillow’s Facebook Tabs are a powerful informational and social-networking tool that can help you reach and connect with more clients and potential prospects on the largest social media network in the world.”

The New Zillow Facebook Tabs Include:

• Listings Tab
• Local Information Tab
• Contact Form Tab
• Ratings and Reviews Tab

What I really like about these tabs is that it allows a real estate professional to integrate their listings into their Facebook page in a very non-aggressive (and non-annoying) way. Now, agents can promote to their clients that their listings will be featured on Facebook (along with other online marketing portals) but the agent won’t have to spam him or her news feed with listings! I also love the Ratings and Reviews tab – great testimonials from clients used to just live on Zillow, can now be featured right on your Facebook page.

All of these tabs are FREE!

Here are two examples of two of the tabs available:

Listing Tab

Ratings and Reviews Tab

How to Install:

To install the tabs, just go to http://Zillow.com/Webtools and click on Facebook Apps.  Select the tab(s) you wish to display on your page, then follow the simple installation instructions. Zillow’s Facebook Tabs will only work on business and community pages — they will not work on personal Facebook profile pages.

What do you think? Have you installed any of these yet or plan to? I’d love your feedback, post a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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Have you ever thought about what you do if you came into a million dollars? How about $10 million? $100 million?

Luxury yachts. Private islands. An endless array of staff to wait on you hand and foot. I think I could get used to that!

If you think a $100 million is a lot of money to acquire – think about someone who spends over $200 million on a SINGLE real estate purchase.

Think it hasn’t happened in this economy? Think the economy is still in the tank?

Think again.

According to The Telegraph,

“The buyer of “Flat a” at the One Hyde Park development is understood to be a Ukrainian who purchased the penthouse in cash in 2007. The complex, built by a development group led by the Candy brothers, the upmarket property investors, has become the most expensive residential development with almost £1bn of sales transacted across 45 apartments. The scheme finished in January and almost all the apartments have been bought through offshore trusts.”

The kicker? This $200+ million home purchase was an unfurnished apartment in London. Let me explain what I mean by unfurnished: bare walls and no amenities. Headed to the loo? Better bring your own toilet!

The home sold for 135.4 million pounds which equates to approximately $221 million. The new happy homeowner, Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, is reportedly going to be spending up to 60 million pounds on interior work. Akhmetov is a miner’s son and the 148th richest man in the world.

This is the most expensive residential property sold in the UK. Too bad this flat isn’t available for The Royal Wedding on April 29th. Although, I doubt Prince William and Kate Middleton would trade Westminster Abbey for Hyde Park.

Hyde Park definitely attracts the rich and famous, singer Kylie Minogue purchased an apartment in the same building – hers was only $25 million. Wonder if her apartment included a toilet?

Here’s a pretty incredible video of One Hyde Park being built – five years of construction in one minute:

(Can’t view the video? Click here)

What do you think of this purchase? I’d love to get your feedback – leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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I had the pleasure of speaking to Marnie Blanco, Vice President, eBusiness at RE/MAX. I first heard Marnie speak at Real Estate Connect NYC a few months back and was really impressed by what she had to say about social media and what RE/MAX was doing on a corporate level – but also to support their agents in the fast-changing social media world.

Best Practice Over Policy

When asked about policy around social media, Marnie says that they focus more on “best practice” over policy. She says,

“We can always do more. We offer a lot of education to our agents and brokers about Facebook business pages, Twitter, the ROI of social media, rules and regulations and best practices. RE/MAX is an extremely entrepreneurial brokerage, so we encourage everyone to get involved in social media and then we give them the tools to make the best possible decisions.

I asked Marnie about what she says when agents ask her “where to start.” Many agents get overwhelmed with the number of options and seemingly never-ending stream of new technology. Marnie advises: “Start as you intend to go.” RE/MAX encourages their agents and brokers to get educated first about the different mediums and then decide the role they’d like to play.

Social Media Education

Social Media superstar, Gary Vaynerchuk was a recent keynote speaker just a few weeks ago at RE/MAX’s convention. Marnie said that Gary talked about how he felt like right now there is a four-year window in social media – right now everyone is on it – but everyone can really capitalize on it in the next four years.

The social media education that RE/MAX provides includes training agents on the separating some of the personal and business that happens on social media and the importance of relationship building – not just promoting their listings. They recommend LinkedIn as a great starting point, because an agent is not expected to be on LinkedIn 24/7 – there is a low barrier to entry and an easy starting point.

I asked Marnie about Twitter and she said they don’t do as much Twitter training as they do with Facebook. She says that Twitter is a great listening tool. “On Twitter it is important to hear what is being said, interject when you can, and then tie it back to you when it is appropriate.” But, she said, it is not for everyone.

In addition to conventions, RE/MAX also offers a number of webinars as their ongoing social media education with agents and brokers. At their conventions, they strive to have speakers that are really on the cutting edge of social media like Gary Vaynerchuk and Nicole Nicolay (Nicole is also one of our emcees at the Agent Reboot evenst that are happening nationwide)

Providing Opportunities

They have social media tracks at their conventions and at their last convention – they had a “Twitter Lover’s Lounge” where people could meet “in real life” and do some great face to face networking. Also at many conventions, they provide camera crews onsite who are available to film a short professional message for agents on a one-on-one basis. These videos could then be published on the agent’s web site or blog. Marnie says that RE/MAX feels it’s very important to assist their agents in creating content for their social sites. In addition, agents are encouraged and trained to start a YouTube Channel of their own and then link their channel to our RE/MAX dedicated channel in which can share content across.  It creates a bigger reach for the agents at a local and national level.

Training on Demand

RE/MAX also offers “RE/MAX University” which Marnie calls “Training on Demand.” At their headquarters in Colorado, they have a full television production area where they are able to create “Quick Hit” 3-5 minute training videos that can then be passed onto the brokerage level. She also said they like to take their training on the road, and will travel to various offices, and get very hands-on with agents and their computers.

Agents and Brokers Doing it Right

Here are 5 RE/MAX Facebook pages that are doing a really nice job of providing local content, building a community and engaging their audience:

• RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts
• RE/MAX Southern Shores
• RE/MAX Gateway of the Washington DC Metro Area
• Cory Kramer- Re/Max Agent
• McCoy-Freeman Group RE/MAX ELITE

How is This Going to Create More Business?

Marnie says at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself “How is this going to create more business?” With social media it is not always that tangible. What I like about RE/MAX’s approach is they are putting a creative focus on the basics of the tried and true approaches, are embracing change and new technologies and arming their agents with the tools and education to succeed.

You can find RE/MAX on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

What type of social media training is your brokerage doing? Are you an agent or broker with RE/MAX?  I’d love to get your thoughts and opinions – leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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Problem: When someone in the real estate industry goes job-hunting, it can be difficult to navigate through all the listings posted on Monster, Career Builder or some of the other online job boards posting up.

In addition, when an employer or real estate brokerage is looking for someone with specific real estate experience, it can sometimes feel like a ‘needle in a haystack.’

Solution: Vendor Alley has a BRAND NEW job board up just for real estate job postings. I think This is a great idea. It takes a a common problem  (unemployment in the RE industry) and makes a super-easy solution.

As of right now, there are 4 categories:

1. Sales
2. Tech
3. MLS/Association staff
4. MLS/Association CEO

This is a version 1 release. Vendor Alley plans on adding additional features, ‘bells and whistles, and possibly additional categories down the line.

Greg Robertson, Co-Founder, W&R Studios says, “I get a lot of requests for job postings on Vendor Alley or people wanting recommendations.  I also saw that there was no single place for people to look for jobs in the real estate industry.  Since Vendor Alley gets such diverse readership (vendors, MLS professionals, sales, tech, portal, brokers, agents, franchisees, etc.) I thought it would be a good place to start a job board.”

Posting a job is really simple – employers form to fill out that includes a place for a job descriptions and contact information. It is only $29.95 to post a job for 30 days via PayPal.  They are also thinking about the idea of charging an additional amount to also do a post about it on Vendor Alley.

Greg has requested feedback, so please check it out and feel free to leave a comment below.

Written by Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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It seems like whenever Apple announces the latest and greatest product -  there are always  other companies who see if they can do better. The last couple weeks, there has been a ton of industry buzz about the iPad – what it is and what it isn’t – and specifically, how it could impact Realtors. One of the biggest buzz items has been the lack of flash on the 1st generation iPad.

Just announced yesterday, the JooJoo tablet computer will begin shipping to pre-orders later this month. With all the hype behind the Apple iPad tablet, the timing could be perfect for Fusion Garage to launch the JooJoo as Apple has done the hard part of creating a huge viral buzz for ‘the next great thing.’  The JooJoo is listed for sale at $499 and will include Flash.

Fusion Garage CEO said, “It has a much larger screen, 12.1 inches instead of 9.7 inches. The resolution is 1368 by 768 pixels instead of 1024 by 768. There are an extra 300 pixels of length, so it’s 16:9 widescreen resolution instead of 4:3. And the Web browsing experience is even better than the iPad, because of the size of the screen.”

One thing to note – the JooJoo won’t have an app store.

Is Steve Jobs worried? Probably not

What do you think? Leave your comments here!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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This was my first time being “behind the scenes” with Inman News at Real Estate Connect NYC.  Having worked directly with agents and brokers prior to coming to Inman, this time at Connect I listened with a new set of eyes.

I kept thinking, “If I was a Realtor, what would be my big take-away from Connect?”

At opening session, Brad Inman talked about 2 things that caught my attention:
1.    The world is changing – real time search, location, news, comments, reviews, auctions and collaboration, and of course real estate.
2.    In this age of “digital addiction” take time to “look up” and connect with people face to face.

So taking those two things into consideration, if I was a Realtor – here would be the 2 big things I would implement ASAP into my business:

1.    Mobile technology. If I was a Realtor I would make sure that I had a mobile strategy in place. In his opening message, Brad Inman, Publisher, Inman News said, “One of the biggest shifts we are seeing is the increase in real time data.” Tools like mobile applications, Twitter and Facebook, are impacting how quickly information is distributed. Inman predicts that one of the big trends in 2010 will be mobile apps that are able to filter and organize this data. Real time search, real time location, real time agent feedback, and real time real estate listing information will be major trends we will see in 2010. “Those agents that adopt technology will close more transactions because they will be more efficient,” say Inman.

If I were a Realtor I would make sure I looked at things like:

• Does my brokerage have a mobile app? What about my MLS?
• Is it worth me investing in my own mobile app?  iSites, a new service launching today, allows you to take your website’s RSS feed and data and quickly transform it into a full-fledged iPhone app. It was created by Genwi, a service that combines aspects of RSS reader, social network and news filter. For just $25, iSites will create a customized iPhone and Android app for you.
• What type of local data can I have right at my fingertips on my mobile phone? Yelp is a great place to start. Foursquare is another great local app that is getting a ton of attention, especially after Dennis Crowley spoke at Connect – and we all had an “a-ha” moment!

Mike Mangino, Owner & President, Elevated Rails talked about some of the key apps to have on your mobile phone to help you do your business better:

• Navigation tool
• Access to your CRM tool
• A simple mortgage calculator app you can use with clients
• Social Media apps: TweetDeck, Tweetie 2 or Hootsuite, Facebook and Linked-In apps
• I’m adding to this list – Wordpress app – a must if your blog is hosted on WP.

2.    Connect with people face to face. One of the biggest challenges Realtors face is meeting new potential clients face-to-face. Now is the time to ‘look up!’

Scott Heiferman, co-founder and CEO of meetup.com was one of the final keynote speakers at Connect and talked about the power of connecting with people live and face to face. People are creating their own self organized groups.

There are 5.7 million Meetup.com members in nearly 59,000 local groups in more than 11,000 cities, according to the company’s site.

Agents can not only join a meetup for local real estate professionals, but they can connect with local real estate buyers groups and sponsor non-real-estate-related groups.

I love this concept – especially for an agent trying to break into a new market niche or community, or just for an agent trying to expand their sphere of influence, this is the perfect opportunity for them.

The message is: be the catalyst for community in your business – online and offline in 2010.

Stay tuned for more about Connect. Inman News will be publishing a comprehensive report next week. Also check out inman.com this week – videos are available for Inman Premium Members. Not a member? Sign up by this Friday, January 22nd and get a special rate of only $99 (reg. price $149)

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Greetings FOREM readers!

I am really excited to be a featured writer on FOREM’s blog. I have been a reader and admirer of this blog for some time and am thrilled with the opportunity to contribute!  It is an honor to write along side Joel Burslem. I am equally as excited about my new position as marketing manager with Inman News. I look forward to bringing a fresh and new perspective to our readers and fans!

To read more about me click here!

So for my 1st blog post, I am going to talk about one of my favorite subjects – Google.

Let’s face it, we are living in a Google world. But, as you all know Google has become so much more than just a search engine.

There are tons of experiments going on with Google – but I thought I’d take this opportunity to give you the 3 latest (and in my opinion most exciting) things happening with Google that will impact you and your business.

1. Google Living Stories – This looks like it could be the next “big thing” for Google and potentially down the line for real estate. Google Living Stories takes newspaper reading to the next level.

Newspapers?  Yes. Stick with me here. This is where it gets good.

It’s not surprising to anyone that the newspaper industry is dying but breaking news and the hunger for news continues to grow at an exponential rate.

Google Living Stories is in beta form right now, and is very “Wikipedia” looking.  So far, Google Living Stories has partnered with The New York Times and The Washington Post. When you go to Google Living Stories and click on a story, you are brought to a page with 1-2 paragraphs of text, photos, graphs, timelines, related links, and related stories.

I love this.

If Living Stories takes off this could be HUGE for the real estate world. Imagine a client searching for “New York Real Estate” – when they click ‘search’ they then may come to a page with listings, photos, neighborhood info, school info, timelines, video, and so much more.

Living Stories still has a ways to come but it has a lot of potential!

News organizations produce a wealth of information that we all value; access to this information should be as great as the online medium allows.

2. Google Chrome – This free web browser is literally taking the web world by storm. Just 2 days ago, at the Googelplex in Mountain View, over 500 new Google Chrome Extensions were unveiled.

Why Chrome? Speed, simplicity and style – but the best part is the speed. It is lightening fast! Already  have Chrome? Check out these experiments from Google to play around with! Also announced today on Google’s blog is the launch of Mac and Linux extensions for Chrome.

3 . Google Goggles – Take a picture of a book, a store, a landmark and that picture translates into a search for that object. It is still in its infancy and only available on the Android (but the rumor is that it will available soon on Google Chrome) but think about the possibilities for real estate search. What if this worked with homes on the market? You could snap a photo and instantly see how long it had been on the market, details about the home, listing agent, virtual tours, and more.  I think there are lots of possibilities for this – plus I love the “cool” factor.

What’s next for Google? Stay tuned – the possibilities are wide open!

Posted by Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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