Next week is a very busy week for the real estate industry in Charlotte, North Carolina with Inman News’ Agent Reboot, the Charlotte Regional Realtors® Association Expo and RE BarCamp Charlotte. With so much going on it, we thought it would be good to outline a little about each event so you can plan accordingly. Make sure you take advantage of all the valuable content available to help you build your business!

Digital. Social. Mobile.

If you are planning on adding digital, social and mobile marketing this year you need to put Agent Reboot into your plans on this Tuesday, May 3rd, from 8am-3pm, at the Charlotte Convention Center. Agent Reboot provides Realtors® top-notch learning with industry experts who focus on social media, mobile and tech tools specifically for the real estate industry.

Agent Reboot is a fast-paced program designed to teach real estate professionals best practices in order to integrate blogging, Facebook and mobile tools (like the iPad) into their marketing and lead generation plan.

Check out the complete Agent Reboot Charlotte program here >>

Not familiar with Agent Reboot; here is a taste of what you can expect:

(Can’t view the video – click here!)

Register for Agent Reboot for only $49 >>

The Charlotte Regional Realtors® Association Expo is on May 4th, from 9 am-4 pm, at The Blake Hotel (555 S. McDowell St., Charlotte). The trade show portion of the EXPO will begin at 9 am and educational sessions begin at 10 am

Realtors® have the opportunity to attend a number of educational seminars, listen to a great motivational keynote speaker, network with other Realtors®, and peruse more than 100 exhibitor booths. You have two opportunities to hear from leading real estate technologist, Chris Smith from Tech Savvy Agent and Realtor.com, speaking at both Agent Reboot and the EXPO.

Learn and Share

Learn about technology-related topics at Agent Reboot, industry information at the EXPO and then share them at RE BarcCamp Charlotte. Agent Reboot is the perfect primer if you plan on attending RE BarCamp because you will have more ideas, more tools and more concrete information to make your experience at RE BarCamp a better one.

RE BarCamp, also known as the “un”conference, the attendees decide the material and the agenda is set that day. This ad-hoc gathering was born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. The event includes discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees. The information and networking involved in this setting is invaluable for your real estate career.

RE BarCamp is on Friday, May 6th at 8:30 am at the Superior School of Real Estate located at 14825 Ballantyne Village Way, Suite 240-15.

Hope to see all of you in Charlotte next week! I will be at Agent Reboot, so please send me an email (katie@inman.com) or a tweet if you plan on attending – I’d love to meet in person!

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

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I love it when I feel like I am one of the first to discover a new technology, and this past weekend I found out about a very cool new video app for the iPhone!

Just released this weekend is a brand new iPhone app: HighlightCam.

I know, who needs one more video tool, right? That’s what I thought until I played around with the app. If you ever shoot any video, and then try to edit it, you know it can be time intensive and frankly kind of a pain. HighlightCam makes it super easy:

1. Once you have the app open, you pick your video clips to be included in the video
2. You can then write a quick title and choose if you want it to be a landscape of portrait video.

That’s it!

The app takes all your video clips, and with their technology, edits out the bad parts of the video! I tried it with some video I had of my kids and was pleasantly surprised.

Since this is still new, and in beta, you can’t control which party are edited out – but you can choose from a couple settings what you’d like the focus of the video on: balanced, people, action, voice. At this point you can’t add music, but I would love to see that in the future.

How could a real estate agent use this?

For real estate agents I think it would be a really fun idea to walk the neighborhood of a listing with your iPhone and take a bunch of quick video shots: the park on the corner, the closest elementary school, the local coffee shop – and then make a quick one-minute video with this app. You could also do this for your buyers – you could shoot a bunch of quick videos of different neighborhoods to give your buyers (expecially if they are relocation buyers), an idea of the look and feel of a neighborhood. Once it’s created, you can upload your video to Facebook or YouTube.

The app is free and then you receive 10 free credits. You can then purchase additional credits through their website.

This weekend, Robert Scoble interviewed the CEO of the company who gives a complete demo of the app.

Click here to view the video>>

I’d love your feedback – what do you think? Have you seen this app? Will you try it out? Leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News, @katielance

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I can’t believe it is almost the end of the year – and what a year we had in real estate and technology. As I look back over the last 12 months there was certainly a lot to discuss – online marketing, the role of technology in real estate, social media, mobile technology, blogging and so much more. We were very excited to see a huge number of people coming to FOREM week in and week out – responding to posts, re-tweeting, commenting and subscribing to our blog via email and RSS.

2010 marked an exciting year for Inman News as well. In July at our Real Estate Connect conference, we launched our first Agent Reboot. From there, we put on 11 more Agent Reboots all across the United States. Now, we are less than two weeks away from Real Estate Connect NYC and Agent Reboot NYC, and we are about to kick off our 24-city Agent Reboot tour. WOW!! We learned that now, more than ever, agents are hungry to learn about the technologies that can make their lives easier and more productive.

For this last post of 2011, I decided to compile a list of what I consider to be some of the best posts from 2010 – based on Google Analytics, number of comments and re-tweets, and the feedback I received.

I hope you enjoy revisiting some of these blog posts as I did.

I also want to take this moment to thank you – our readers. I consider myself very lucky to be able to write for FOREM and meet the wonderful fans that we have. I read each and every one of your blog comments and I think we have one of the best and smartest audiences in the industry. I know in this day and age there are thousands of blogs you could read – but you choose to read FOREM, and for that I want to give you a big THANK YOU!!

Here are the best of FOREM for 2010 (in no particular order):

Tip Tuesday: 5 Things Every Realtor Must do to Be Successful on Facebook

4 Free Google Tools You Must Use in Your Business

Top 4 Cool Things About the NEW iPhone4

REALTORS® and Smartphones – 2010 Survey Results

8 Ways Real Estate Agents Can Generate Referrals for Free

3 Social Media Mistakes Real Estate Agents & Brokers Make

9 Intelligent Ways Every REALTOR® Should be Using Google

25 Killer Resources – Blog Content for Realtors

Seven Important Ways for Real Estate Agents to Get Started with Internet Marketing of Their Business

5 Essential Social Media Instincts Real Estate Agents Should Implement

Facebook… Coming to a Theater Near You!

5 Ways Realtors Can Use Technology to Save Time and Money

5 Ways Build Your Personal Brand the Right Way

Hope you have a wonderful and prosperous new year – I’ll see you in 2011!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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The following post was written by Keoki McCarthy, Designated Broker/President of Real Living Northwest. Thank you Keoki for your post!

What a great event. My fellow agents and I headed to Agent Reboot™ with high hopes of learning some new things. We were not let down. What we received was a fantastic day of technology, energy and education. The whole event was fantastic from start to finish.

The program opened with a sleepy Seattle crowd tentatively sipping their lattes when Nicole Nicolay (@nik_nik to the social media hipsters in the crowd), the emcee, got up to some fun, energetic music and paired her evolution of dance moves to the evolution of real estate marketing. She was making the point that while it’s obvious that disco died in the 70’s, it is not as obvious that some of our marketing tactics should as well. It’s time to put away the disco ball and wake up to the great new ways to market in the information age. This theme was repeated throughout the day with concrete ideas and examples.

The program was filled with experts with tons of great ideas and best practices that they have been using in their market. I am going to share a couple parts of the day that I really enjoyed.

One of the speakers was Chris Smith of Tech Savvy Agent. He wanted to give his “must-have” tools for the agent with “Mobile-Mojo”. I was thinking he would give us a few tips. HE GAVE US 30!!! Wow, 30 tools and tips to help bring your career to the next level using today’s best technologies. He gave us ideas that I think will be standard practice in the next few years but are being used by only a handful today. These 30 tips were well worth the price of admission alone.

There was a young agent from Vancouver Washington, Dale Chumbley, that is using Facebook and blogging in very creative ways to connect with people. He has found that not only is he connecting with people he knows but is building off those connections to meet more and more people. He has created a social network around things to do in his area that brings people together. The side effect of his efforts are that he has now positioned himself as the expert in his market and the agent to call if you are in Vancouver.

I could continue for pages about the valuable contributions made by all of the speakers and exhibitors. However, I think that would take up much more space than I have available. I think I would serve you better by saying if you are in Seattle and missed the event, grab some friends in your office and go on a road trip to Portland on the 22nd of September. If you live in any of the remaining cities on the tour you owe it to yourself to go. View all 12 cities here.

Thanks for your post Keoki! If you were at Agent Reboot Seattle, I’d love to hear your feedback too – leave me a comment below!

- Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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Do you live in Seattle or the surrounding areas? It’s not too late to make it to Agent Reboot™ Seattle!

Don’t miss the incredible ONE-DAY event devoted to teaching agents the hottest new trends and ‘how-to’s’ in social media, online marketing and mobile technology. Also ALL attendees will receive the Inman News 30-Day Social Media Plan FREE!

Date: Wed. Aug. 18th

Time: 9 am – 3 pm

Location: Meydenbauer Convention Center – Bellevue

View program and speakers >>

FOREM fans – save $20 off off your ticket!

REGISTER TODAY >> (use code: ‘FOREM0812′ and pay only $79)

Check out this ROCKIN’ video from our emcee Nicole Nicolay! Nicole talks about what to expect at Agent Reboot and what speakers you will hear from. (Click this link if you can not view the video)

Who is Nicole?

As an industry educator, consultant, and innovator, Nicole Nicolay “@nik_nik” has equipped real estate professionals, brokerages, and title companies with progressive marketing techniques and best practices for generating business. Nicole has trained thousands of agents nationwide and speaks regularly at industry leading events including: Inman Connect, REtechSouth, REBarCamps, C.A.R.- Tech Tuesday, BizTechDay, New Media Atlanta, Triple Play, REBlogWorld, and the BlogWorld New Media Expo.

FOREM fans – save $20 off off your ticket!

REGISTER TODAY >> (use code: ‘FOREM0812′ and pay only $79)

*tickets regularly $99 and will be $149 at the door.

Questions? Contact registration@inman.com

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Today was an awesome day – it was Inman News‘ 1st ever Agent Reboot™ – a one-day event devoted to just real estate agents. It was so exciting to be in the room and see Nicole Nicolay (@nik_nik) and Daniel Rothamel (@realestatezebra) kick off this event (which is the 1st on a 12-city road show!)

There was so much great information – but before I nodded off to sleep I wanted to post the nuggets of info I took away from today: (by the way – these are just SOME of the highlights – there were WAY more speakers and great content than listed below!)

Max Pigman (@maxpigman)

• 50% buyers will use mobile apps in next 24-36 months
• It’s no longer about the device. It’s about the application.

Cece Blase (@sfrebuzz)

• Her marketing is like ‘3 legs of a stool’ – email, blog and face-to-face
• She writes content that is interesting to her and made the choice to have her ‘blog voice’ be in a similar tone to how she speaks.
• She says “You can’t be everything to everybody – I made the decision a while back to work with people I like!” (love this!!)
• Basics of her writing: clever, to the point, low graphics, 200-300 words max. Be interesting, be relevant be conversational, be yourself

Ginger Wilcox (@gingerw)

• Stuck on what to write? Write down every question a client has asked you! There is some great content right there!

Bernice Ross (@bross)

• (talking about Facebook) “Make a friend now, do a deal later” (so true!!!)

Derek Overby (@doverbEy)

• Facebook has become the hub – the entry point into your social media world. It’s where SO many people start their day! Facebook is one of the easiest places to start in social media!

Dawn Thomas (@DawnThomasCRS)

• (in regards to a Facebook page) “People want to be a fly on the wall and see what others are saying about YOU!” (never thought of it that way!)

What’s Next?

1. Check out tons of photos and updates on the Agent Reboot Facebook page and you can check out the #AGENTRB Twitter stream!
2. Next Agent Reboot is in L.A. on August 5th! If you are in So Cal – don’t miss this one!!
3. Check back for more updates – tomorrow Real Estate Connect kicks off!! Follow #ICSF for all the updates!

Did you go to Agent Reboot SF today? Chime in with your thoughts and feedback please – thank you!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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I love that I get to talk about technology day in and day out. And because I am always on the lookout for the next ‘latest and greatest’ tech gadget – I am constantly amazed by the ideas I see!

Recently, I received an email referencing this article on what of the hottest new topics in mobile technology in regards to real estate: geofencing.

What’s geofencing?

“A Geofence is a virtual perimeter on a geographic area using a location-based service, so that when the geofencing device enters or exits the area a notification is generated. The notification can contain information about the location of the device and might be sent to a mobile telephone or an email account.”

As it stands right now, geofencing is used to notify someone when someone (like a child) leaves a geographic boundary. Some employers use it as well as a tracking device for sales territory. The auto industry has used it as well to keep track of cars in a fleet.

So how does this relate to real estate? Imagine this:

“It’s Saturday morning. Joel and Rebecca are walking their dog through a neighborhood in Austin, TX. As they walk, they chat about the movie they saw last night, what they’re going to make for dinner, and the big trip they have planned for next weekend. You wouldn’t know it by listening to their conversation, but the couple is also house hunting.

They cross Brodie Lane when Joel’s cell phone buzzes in his pocket. It’s a text message. Joel says to Rebecca, “We’ve got a match from our real estate company. It’s only four blocks away. Let’s go see what the house looks like.”

Within minutes, the couple is outside the 714 Longview Rd. home. It happens to be exactly the type of home they wanted, in the exact neighborhood they wanted to live in. They call their real estate agent to set up a viewing.” (an excerpt from the above-mentioned article)

How is this possible? By combining geofencing, mobile phones and GPS technology.

I can see a HUGE possibility for this is real estate AND for web developers. Why? Because as of right now this technology does not exist for real estate!  Personally as avid smartphone user, I would love to have this feature on my phone – especially if I was house-hunting.

I remember a couple years back when my husband and I were looking to buy a home. We’d drive around neighborhoods and say “We love this area – I wonder if there any homes for sale in this neighborhood.”

How cool would it be to have a mobile feature from our real estate agent: if we were in a neighborhood we were interested in – we could instantly be notified of homes for sale. There are a tremendous amount of possibilities.

From a marketing standpoint – any brokerage or agent who was able to get this technology would have a huge advantage – especailly if they do any targeted marketing to the Gen X and Gen Y group that are accustomed to this type of technology.

People are definitely talking about geofencing – here is the latest stream from Twitter with people chatting about it!

What do you think? Is this something you think would be value when you promote your unique marketing services to a seller or buyer? Leave me a comment or feedback below!

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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Google announced today they have invited the press to an “Android press gathering” on Jan. 5. This date is very strategic on Google’s part – as the Consumer Electronics Show is in Las Vegas later in the week. Google representatives declined to provide any further details about the event, but most likely this will be the unveiling of the Nexus One. This will be Google’s first phone sold directly to consumers. The rumors are, that if purchased directly from Google, consumers could pay up to $500, or considerably less if they sign a multi-year contract with T-Mobile.

Google employees began tweeting about the Nexus One after Google handed out these new phones to employees. Then, on December 12, Google posted a somewhat odd blog post where it said that the devices were intended to test new mobile technologies. “We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe,” Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management.

Also there are rumors that at this press conference, Google will address the questions that have risen about the Android strategy. Many are wondering if Google will sell the Android directly from its website.

I’m curious to see what this all will mean for the real estate professionals. As referenced in my last post about smartphones, the iPhone is still the top seller,  followed by the Blackberry and Razr. Will the Google Nexus One surpass what the iPhone has successfully accomplished? For real estate agents, ease of use is their top priority – followed by superior phone and data service. This topic will certainly be discussed at Connect NYC.

What is the future of mobile technology for 2010?

Find out at Connect! (FOREM members receive $100 off , use promo code “forem”)

by Katie Lance

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With my new iPhone firmly planted in my pocket wherever I go now, I’m fully convinced the long term impact of this product should not be underestimated (and yes, I’m painfully aware of all its shortcomings).

1000watt Blog has this to say:

Mark my words, one day, people will be in their cycle class surfing homes for sale on their iPhone and texting their agent. Or not. It’s up to you to create your future. Starting today, brokers, make sure your development team makes every corner your web presence Safari compatible. From agent sites right up to the corporate site.

It reminded me of what I wrote earlier this year, in my post House Hunting On The Go:

House hunting seems to me to be an inherently mobile activity but as yet all of the house hunting options we have require you to root yourself in front of the computer.

Despite its hefty pricetag, the iPhone is going to take smartphones to the streets. lf the line waiting inside my Apple Store for an 8gig iPhone was any indication (retirees, big-haired women, suburban soccer moms, even kids!) this gadget is going to be in a lot of people’s pockets.

While none of what it offers is new (my BlackJack can and did do more, with faster Internet speeds to boot), the iPhone just does it slicker. It does what Apple has always done, package up existing technologies and make them appealing and easy to use for the masses.

Realtors are going to love this thing. But more importantly, the average Joe is going to love this thing. And for that reason more than any other, the iPhone could be what really kickstarts mobile real estate.

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