Widgets are a great way to add valuable content, increase your credibility, foster engagement and “share-a-bility” of your content, and make your site more interactive with your customers.Widgets are available for use on most WordPress.com and WordPress.org sites.

I am very excited to be giving a special presentation today in Vancouver, BC at Agent Reboot. My presentation is: “Widget Check: Pump Up Your WordPress Website.”

Here are my 9 favorite widgets for WordPress sites:

• Local News: Twitter.com/About/Resources/Widgets
• Lifestyle: WalkScore.com/Services
• Weather: Weather.com/Services/Weather-Gadgets/
• Social Media: ShareThis.com
• Subscribing to Updates: FeedBurner.com
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Badges
• One Phone Number: Google.com/Voice
• Email Newsletters: MailChimp.com
• Entertainment: Frontdoor.com/Buy/HGTV-Frontdoor-Widgets/55667

The best part – these widgets will work on Canadian or U.S. WordPress websites!

In addition, in the U.S., there are some fantastic widgets available from Zillow.com, Trulia.com and AltosResearch.com – all of which have widget options such as: mapping,  IDX feeds, data charts, testimonials, featured homes, and more.

What are your favorite widgets? I’d love to hear from you and add to this list. Post your favorites below!

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

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Guest blog post by Nathaniel Broughton

For the last 2 years, Google and Bing (the only search engines that matter) have become more aggressive in “suggesting” what keywords a user should search.

Picture this scenario.  You’re sitting with the cursor in your favorite search engine’s search bar.  You begin to type . . . and within a few characters, up pops a short list of suggested, bolded keywords to complete your query.  That’s Google or Bing guessing what it is they think you’re likely searching.

What are these suggest terms based on?  What does it mean for your business?

Google’s suggest terms are influenced by the popularity of keyword search phrases.  They aggregate this data and deliver the most common terms used.  For example, if you start typing “r-e-a” into the search bar, there are a few keywords that most people tend to complete their search phrase with.

“realtor.com” is a top suggest keyword in Bing.  “real estate” is a top suggest keyword in Google.

For businesses, brands, and even individual people, it gets more interesting.  It’s important to first be aware of the suggested keywords that searchers are seeing.  Search suggest is creating a new search environment for any business or professional online.

If you ignore it, you’re missing out on opportunities to drive new traffic, position yourself as an authority, and ultimately make more money.

Search Suggest Changes What People Search

First, consider how it can drastically change what people search.  When this was introduced in 2009, my mortgage bank saw some keyword searches explode.  Others completely fell off.  This happened for both generic searches around our services, and for searches on our company name specifically.

With all agents and brokers generating business from the web these days, you understand the value of both types of searches.  Say you are an agent in Newport Beach.  With search suggest, “Newport beach hom” typed into the search bar brings up the following suggest terms in Google.

Notice “Newport beach home tour” listed there.  Certainly, this keyword saw a spike in the number of times it was searched once it made the suggest list.

This is an immediate opportunity for an agent in that area to begin proactively marketing for that keyword.  Whereas in the past, hosting a page and ranking for “Newport beach home tour” might drive marginal traffic, with it as a suggested keyword it might now be worth thousands more visitors each month.

Marketing Your Brand in New Ways
Let’s look at another example.  This time one centered on an individual agent’s name.  I recently worked with an agent in La Jolla to find my home.  Her name is Meg Lebastchi.  When I go to Google and type in her name, here’s what I get in suggest:

Notice the 3rd keyword on the list: “meg lebastchi la jolla”.

If I’ve just heard about Meg from a friend, I’m going to look her up.  Since I know I’m looking to live in La Jolla, when I see that keyword suggested as I start typing her name I’m likely to click on it.  (If nothing else, I’m much more likely to use that as my search phrase than I was previously).

While Meg has a decent set of results when you search this exact phrase, as a marketer I see this as a ripe opportunity for her to do something even more.  She could register meglebastchilajolla.com for $8, and put up a simple website with her brand, picture, and her listings.

“meg lebastchi la jolla” is not a competitive keyword.  Many agents are out there competing on very hard keywords like “san diego homes for sale”.  This is low hanging fruit!  Hosting a website on meglebastchilajolla.com and doing some simple SEO will earn her a top ranking in a short time.  

Doing so would allow Meg to have more control over what a user sees when they go searching for her name.  Instead of a profile page on a national or company website, imagine what she could have an entire site dedicated to her.  It’s a chance to show a potential client like me how she’s the best agent in La Jolla.  Testimonials, pictures of her listings, and maybe some blog posts she’s written lately.

I think there are an unlimited number of opportunities like this for agents across the country.  Google and Bing are changing what people search for around your name, and your service area.  If you pay attention to it, you’ll find cheap, uncompetitive marketing opportunities to grab more business.

How Search Suggest Defines Your “Internet Reputation”
Another interesting aspect that has arisen from the introduction of search suggest relates to reputation management.  You should monitor this not only for opportunities to promote yourself, but also to recognize what customers might see about your reputation.

Truly, what are the suggest terms for your company name?  What are they for your individual name?  Do you know?

You might be surprised to learn that some common suggested terms are “reviews” and “complaints”.  As in, “yourcompany.com complaints”.  Hmm, as a business owner I’m not too excited about that.  But I also understand that you can’t please every customer.  If you’re in business, someone’s probably got a complaint right?
What you can do is be proactive about it.  Just the likelihood of someone searching “yourcompany.com complaint” jumps exponentially when that term gets suggested.

Imagine you’ve heard about a company from a friend.  Or you’ve seen an ad on them.  Or you’ve already started doing business with them, and the next time you go to find their site, you start typing the company name into the Google search bar.

On the list of suggested keywords is “company complaints”.  Wait, what?  People have had complaints?  I want to read them.  I want to see if working with them is still a good idea.  Whereas 10 seconds ago this would not have been my search, now it is.  This is why it matters so much.

Step one is to do these searches on your own and see what’s ranking in the results.  Usually it is a mashup of your own website, some third party review sites like a Yelp.com or the BBB, and maybe a blog or two.

Are you happy with what comes up?  There certainly are a lot of things you can do to proactively manage these search results.

For your own website, you might start incorporating these keywords into new or existing pages.  I’m sure you have a testimonials page.  But a complaint page?  By housing a page on your site about complaints – that has “complaints” in the URL and in the title tag – you’ll likely rank highly for a search on “yourcompany.com complaint”.

It’s better to participate in the conversation than be outside it.  On your own site, you can have a comment box that allows visitors or customers to leave a complaint.  And you can be right there to respond to them to see how it can be rectified.  The whole conversation is published right there for future visitors to see.

While no one likes complaints on their business, most people understand that they do happen.  Seeing a company honestly responding to, and trying to rectify, complaints, is a good sign in my book.

Another easy action to take is to try and monitor the 3rd party sites and be active on them.  If someone is bashing you on Yelp, get on there and have a voice.  Deflate the situation.  Let them know you care.

You might also reach back to the Meg example, and register domain names that match the search suggest terms.  We did that with our mortgage bank.  After seeing ‘vamortgagecenter reviews’ added to the search suggest box (and the # of searches for it going up 14x), we registered vamortgagecenterreviews.com.  We built a simple website that allowed people to leave reviews of our services.  It’s worked out great – and ranks #5 for that search.

There’s no question that search suggest is a powerful determinant of what users search each time they head to Google or Bing.  As a professional, you are well-served to be aware of these terms as they change over time.  The steps required to both take advantage of new marketing opportunities and to monitor your reputation in the search results are not difficult.  Just stay aware, and stay ahead of the game.  You’ll find ongoing opportunities to better your business from search engines that others will miss.

About the author: Nathaniel Broughton @natebro is a veteran internet marketer who’s helped produce three Inc 500 winning companies.  He is the owner of Growth Partner Capital, a venture fund with services in SEO consulting, online reputation management, and premium link building.

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Note: I’ve asked several people to share their thoughts and experiences about what Real Estate Connect has meant to them with our FOREM readers. Look for these special “Connect Stories” here on FOREM leading up to Real Estate Connect San Francisco, July 27-29, 2011. Our third Connect guest post is from our friend Michael McClure, the President & CEO of Professional One Franchising, LLC (@ProfessionalOne on Twitter). Thank you Michael! – Katie

@InmanConnect #ICSF

What do LL Cool J and I have in common? We’re going back to Cali.

I DO think so!

Last July, I had the privilege of being asked to speak at Inman Real Estate Connect San Francisco (ICSF). It was my first experience at a national conference, and I had an amazing time.

I forged crucial relationships those few days by the Bay, and made key connections that benefit me greatly today. As I love to say it, everything good happening in my business right now is Social Media-based, and “ground zero” for it all was ICSF last year.

And the good people at Inman News were kind enough to invite back to speak again at this year’s conference.

But here’s the thing: I would be going back to Cali – specifically, to Real Estate Connect San Francisco – no matter what.

I had such a great time last year, there’s simply no way that I would miss it this year. Or next year. Or the year after that. Or the year after that. Okay, I’m sure you’re getting my point, right?

Oh, and before I forget, let me add this: I never had any interest in attending industry events before I went to ICSF last year. Now? I attend every one I can. I went to a number of Agent Reboots last year, and I also attended Real Estate Connect New York this past January.

So, why am I so bullish on ICSF? More importantly, why do I consider ICSF
the “can’t miss” event of the year?

Here are my top five reasons why you need to be at ICSF this year:

• Connecting: OK, this is obvious, given the name – “Real Estate Connect” – but it is still worth noting. For the people who live and move in the space that is of most interest to me – the swirling vortex of the “real estate/tech/Social Media” mashup – ICSF is the place to connect with the people who are moving the needle in that space. Chris Smith. Nicole Nicolay. Matthew Shadbolt. The 1000Watt crew. Reggie Nicolay. The list goes on.

• Learning: With seemingly EVERYTHING being turned on its head these days in real estate, and with technology morphing and changing and iterating at such an incredible pace, we simply must stay as current as possible to stay competitive. ICSF is THE PLACE to learn from the brightest minds in the game, the very people who are creating and leveraging all these changes. I participated in a broker breakout session led by Marc Davison, and what I learned in just that one session – about lead generation at the broker level and how top brokerages were handling that process – was truly invaluable to me.

• Visiting: San Francisco is simply magical. If you’ve never been, you must come and see it for yourself. And if you have been, then you already know how amazing that city is. The combination of dining, sight-seeing, shopping and people watching, combined with the overall vibe and ambience, make this a city like no other. It’s an enchanted place, for sure.

• Socializing: What’s really cool about these events is how they transition from serious learning to serious socializing so seamlessly. As much as I learn at these conferences, it’s the potential for meeting people and getting to know them on a personal level that really makes them special. The highlight of ICSF for me last year was the evening spent at an eclectic bar called Swig. It was a true happening.

• Energizing: The combination of the aforementioned factors – connecting, learning, visiting and socializing – all adds up to this last point, which is that you simply cannot attend ICSF and not come away jazzed, stoked, geeked and all jacked up on Inman Dew. For me, last year’s ICSF was where I confirmed that I was on the right track in terms of tech and Social Media, and that alone was worth ten times the price of admission. Seeing what I saw and learning what I learned has fueled me all these months since.

I would implore you to check out ICSF. And,if you attend, I certainly hope to meet you personally. Let’s Connect!

(Here is a video Mike filmed about Real Estate Connect)

Do you have a Connect Story you’d like to share? Did coming to Connect profoundly change you, your outlook, your team or your business? All of the above? If so, I want to hear from you and possibly feature you here on FOREM. Leave me a comment below or email me katie (at) inman (dot) com.

Join the Connect conversation on Facebook and Twitter (#ICSF)

Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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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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There are tons of great little tips and tricks to making the most of your Facebook page. Throughout the next couple weeks I will be sharing quick and easy tips that you may or may not know about to enhance your Facebook page.

One of my favorite tricks that surprisingly a lot of people don’t know about is the ability to send custom status updates on your Facebook page. This is an awesome opportunity for a real estate agent. You can send a custom status update to the people who like your page. (Note, I am not talking about your personal profile, I am referring to your business Facebook page.) You can customize your updates based on country, state, city, and language.

For a real estate agent, it is a great opportunity to send a custom update to a specific city – like an event, a listing, a specific neighborhood update, etc. Also, if you are working with multilingual clients, you can customize your posts into different languages.

Here are 2 screen shots that show you how easy this is:

Step 1: Go to your page (facebook.com/pages) and click on your page. Type your custom status update. Click the arrow underneath the status update box and click “customize”

Step 2: Once you click ‘customize,’ this box will pop up where you can choose you country, state, city, and language. You can even choose multiple cities if you’d like.

Once you click “Okay” then your status update will go live. You will see it on your page BUT the people who like your page who are not part of your custom filter will not see it. So you could literally post 5 similar updates but edit them to be custom for a specific city. You will see all five updates on your page, but the people who like your page will only see the updates that pertain to them.

This is a quick and easy opportunity to post custom updates which usually results in higher engagement from your audience.

Have you done this with your page or is this news to you? I’d love your feedback, leave me a comment below!

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

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There has been a lot of friendly competition around the Inman News office lately around Twitter – how many followers each of us has and why. In between the laughter, and joking, it’s made me think – why do some people get more followers faster than others? Why are certain things re-tweeted more than others? What can someone do to “be successful” on Twitter – and what does “success” on Twitter really mean.

Being a social media director, I’ve seen a lot of “social media gurus” who claim they know it all about Twitter, yet when I look at their feeds all I see is someone talking all about themselves – what they have to sell, what product they are pushing or how great they are.

Can you sell on Twitter? Sometimes.

Can you get more web traffic? Absolutely.

Can you build a brand? Without a doubt.

Can it be all about you? No way. No how. Never.

The truth is – success on Twitter is so much more than how many followers you have. That only tells part of the story. For a long time, I was focused on those numbers. How many followers. How many re-tweets. How many likes. How many unlikes. If you look at those numbers long enough you start to go crazy. Then something pretty cool happened. The more I tweeted, the more I focused less on the numbers, the more people I met, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I saw the tremendous value of it.

I know there are some people that are reading this that may be thinking “Katie, I don’t get it. I’m a busy Realtor. I started a Twitter maybe account a year or so ago. I think I have 20 followers, but really what’s the point?”

Sound familiar?

Let me tell you – being an independent contractor in any business, especially real estate, is lonely.

One of the biggest benefits I have seen with Twitter is the camaraderie and support with people who love this industry all over the world. In my eyes, that is a huge benefit. But let’s face it, we don’t just want to sit around and just tweet with other Realtors. There are people right now in your community, in your town talking about things that are relevant to you – local news, local events, hot spots around town, and yes people who are moving to your city or town. Go into Twitter and type “moving to _____” in the search field and you’ll be surprised at how many search results come up. Does that mean you should instantly Tweet them and say “HI! I’m a Realtor!!!!” No of course not – you wouldn’t do that in real life, so don’t do it on Twitter.

Seriously, don’t even think about it!

The point is that Twitter is like the Chamber of Commerce mixer. Remember those? You went, had a drink and came home with 10 business cards. But now, you get to stay at home, be in your PJ’s, and “collect” followers that you can connect with. It’s the same networking we’ve always done – it’s just done a little differently now.

But let me tell you the BEST part about Twitter for me…

As I go to Agent Reboot events all over the country – the cities may be different, some of the speakers may be different, but one thing remains the same; there is always someone that I had never met “in real life” that greets me with a hug.

Why? Because I haven’t just blasted out tweets. Because I don’t shamelessly self-promote myself. Because I’ve taken the time to notice people.

Isn’t that what it’s all about? Don’t people – don’t you and I – just want to be noticed?

That’s the power of Twitter, and it’s one of the reasons I love what I do.

So how do you jump into the conversation? How do you get people to start noticing you and engaging with you? There are definitely a few “secrets” that no one ever told me when I first started on Twitter that can really help jump start your Twitter fame!

1. Don’t use all 140 characters. I was in Seattle earlier this year when my friend Dale Chumbley reminded me, “Katie, I’d re-tweet you more if you didn’t write such long tweets!!” DOH! I had forgotten that so simple but golden rule. Don’t use every single space. I know 140 characters isn’t very much to begin with. So if you fill up that whole space and then someone tries to re-tweet you – there will be too many letters. If it’s a good tweet, some people will take the time to edit it – but most won’t. See if you can keep your tweets to 50 characters max!

2. Re-tweet a lot. We have a joke in the Inman News office – it’s all about the re-tweet! That’s right! You want people to stand up, notice you, follow you, and engage you? Then re-tweet a lot! Re-tweet 15-20 things a day. Re-tweet interesting articles, follow hashtags (like #agentrb or #icsf) and re-tweet things people are talking about. The more you re-tweet, the more people are likely to re-tweet you and take notice of you! Here’s a bonus secret – don’t re-tweet 15 things in a row (unless you want to annoy the heck out of your followers). Re-tweet 15 things but use my favorite app HootSuite and schedule out those re-tweets – once a hour so they “drip” out over the course of the day. Now instead of impacting a few people who happen to be on Twitter at the exact time you are on, you are impacting people at different times of the day.

3. #FF. I love Friday Follow. Every Friday pick 10 people to mention for #FF. Recognize people you enjoy following. Twitter is a very giving medium. You need to give, give, give if you want to receive anything back. Some of the people I have engaged with and talk to the most started with a #FF.

4. Post content you like to read. We all subscribe to email newsletters right? Well before you delete them all every morning, look at one or two in your inbox and make it a point to tweet out a couple things from those emails – interesting articles or tidbits of knowledge.

5. Don’t get so caught up on what to say. Don’t over think things. Post something if it’s interesting to you, but don’t spend too much time worry about everything you post. Be smart, if you wouldn’t say something on stage or in a crowd, don’t say it on Twitter.

So those are just a few of my Twitter keys to success. What are some of yours? In the spirit of Twitter, please share and leave me a comment below!

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

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Note: I’ve asked several people to share their thoughts and experiences about what Real Estate Connect has meant to them with our FOREM readers. Look for these special “Connect Stories” here on FOREM leading up to Real Estate Connect San Francisco, July 27-29, 2011. Our second Connect guest post is from our friend Steve Weiss, Broker, Patterson Realty. Thank you Steve! – Katie

@InmanConnect #ICSF

Inman Connect is indeed where Real Estate and Technology Connect.

When it comes to a real estate symposium, Connect is THE most unique and captivating program I have had ever attended and believe me, in my 26 year career, I’ve attended my share of real estate conferences. From listening to the basic motivational speakers to the franchise spectaculars and everything in between, nothing compares to Connect. The chief distinction between any typical real estate conference and Inman Connect is the variety of subject matter, the format in which it is presented but most of all, your desire to return each and ever year.

Connect is the “crack” of real estate conferences, once you attend, you’ll be hooked for life. Connect continues to improve annually and is without any doubt, the premier source for real estate news and technology.

My primary goal for attending Inman Connect was to become more familiar with today’s real estate tools and technology. My goals were not only met, but succeeded all expectations.  Additionally, the personal relationships I developed during the Breakaway Sessions and throughout the hallways are truly invaluable and have helped expand my referral network.

By attending Connect, you will have the privilege to listen to the most innovative marketing strategists with the most unique ideas that are changing the way we do business today and setting the stage for how we will do business in the future.

When attending any real estate event, I’m usually looking for that one nugget of information that will allow me to excel in my marketplace. Most of conferences I’ve attended will spotlight large markets. The information I’ve assembled from Connect can be easily integrated into any marketplace. For example, in 2007, my brokerage spent close to $9,000 per month on print advertising.  Attending Connect NYC in 2008, I “connected” with a website consultant skilled on how to retool our web presence and suggested adding Search Engine Optimization. After implementing her ideas, we delivered a website that produces numerous leads and have nearly cut print advertising out of our annual budget. In 2010, Connect NYC shared the need to demonstrate transparency in our market by adding market data to our website. With the help from one of the vendors showcased at Connect, we are able to produce very useful information to our customers and set ourselves apart from the others.

Connect is appropriate for those who are establishing their real estate career to the most polished real estate veteran. Connect offers a variety of material that is informative and is presented in entertaining approach.  The agenda continues to improve with each year and have yet to be disappointed.

Finally, I would like to thank those of you at Inman News for what you have done for me and my real estate career. The Inman News Team responsible for producing Connect has my deepest and sincerest appreciation for seeking out the best presenters and the most innovative tools available to the real estate community. The material offered at Connect keeps me on the cutting edge of real estate news and technology. Each year I take away several nuggets that have indeed turned my business around. I highly recommend to my fellow associates that they attend either Inman Connect New York or San Francisco as the experience will absolutely change your career forever.

(Here is a video of Steve we filmed at this past Connect NYC.)

Do you have a Connect Story you’d like to share? Did coming to Connect profoundly change you, your outlook, your team or your business? All of the above? If so, I want to hear from you and possibly feature you here on FOREM. Leave me a comment below or email me katie (at) inman (dot) com.

Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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Please join us for a FREE Webinar next Thursday

Topic: Achieving a Paperless Process for your Real Estate Brokerage

Sponsored by: DocuSign

Thursday, May 26th
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PDT)

We have been promised paperless transactions for years. That possibility is now a reality. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to take your office from past to future using tools and applications that make the paperless transaction a reality. Whether you want only parts of your transactions to be electronic, or you want to be as green as green can be, we’ll show you how. We’ll cover everything from contract signing to document storage so that you’ll have all the knowledge you need.

This webinar is ideal for both agents and brokers. See you there!

Register today!

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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