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The Speakers:
Yelp CEO to Keynote at Connect SF ‘09
20 million people visited Yelp last month. Thousands of real estate professionals are reviewed on the site. Find out what it means for your brand — only at Real Estate Connect San Francisco.
Zappos.com Chairman, COO & CFO to Keynote at Connect SF ‘09
Zappos.com became one of the most talked about companies in the world by creating an amazing culture and brand. Alfred Lin will share what it took to make that happen and the top 10 things he learned along the way.
Bloggers Connect
This one-day workshop has become the “must attend” event for social media leaders and those who want to learn from them.
ConnectTech (New)
ConnectTech will give CTO’s, developers, entrepreneurs and product managers an opportunity to explore innovation in a program tailored to geeks, not marketers.
Internet Marketing Summit
Geared towards brokers and agents, the Summit delivers practical takeaways for optimizing your marketing strategy from those who are getting it right.
The Attendees:
The Inman Connect conferences are THE MUST ATTEND events every year. If you want to meet and learn from those on the cutting edge of Technology and Real Estate then you MUST ATTEND.
Real Estate Connect will attract over 1500 world class leaders in real estate, technology, lending, title and financial services professions. Will you be there too?
Inman News strives to present information that is cutting edge, relevant and informative. And for over 12 years, Inman News has been presenting its bi-annual Real Estate Connect conferences in San Francisco and New York City.
Some of the Events:
Thursday:
8:30 am – 9:00 am
Duet: Listings, Leads and Vision: What’s the Ideal Online Real Estate Business Model?
9:00 am – 9:15 am
Download: Ten New Ways to Leverage Social Media
9:15 am – 9:45 am
Connect Launchpad
9:45 am – 10:00 am
Connect Solo: The Real Estate Office of the Future
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Keynote Address: Building a Brand that Matters
10:30 am – 11:00 am
Duet: Building a Better Brokerage MouseTrap: The Agent vs Consumer Centered Approach
Friday:
9:00 am – 9:15 am
Connect Solo: How TV, the Web, Your Phone and the Social Universe are Colliding (In a Good Way)
9:15 am – 9:45 am
One-on-One
9:45 am – 10:15 am
Duet: Mortgage Reboot: Will Startups or Stalwarts Ensure Safer and Saner Lending Practices?
And of course if you are attending you need to go to RE Bar Camp San Francisco. This is where it all started last year and this is the 1st anniversary.
I still use Outlook and a Hosted Exchange account and I still think it is THE BEST email solution available at this time. But, Google Apps is getting better and better everyday.
I love Outlook and I’ve wanted to switch to Google Apps but I don’t want to leave Outlook and my exchange server. The reason for this is the full synchronization capabilities that are built into all phones and Outlook and Exchange. Everything stays in Sync on multiple devices and I don’t even have to try to make it work, it just works.
Well, this may change after what Google Released today.
Google Apps Sync for Outlook
Google announced today a new Google Apps feature that enables syncing with Microsoft Outlook mail, calendar and contacts data, giving Outlook users a way to use Google Apps without changing their behavior. It will launch worldwide this afternoon (but only available in English; Google said other languages will come later) for Google Apps Premiere Edition subscribers. See the video at the end for more details.
At the Google-hosted event this morning, Google Senior Product Manager Chris Vander Mey demonstrated the feature by showing how users can schedule a lunch meeting in Outlook and the appointment will simultaneously sync up in Google Apps. “We spent a long time making Outlook work really well,” he said. “That should tell you how committed we are.”
Will I switch from Hosted Exchange?
Probably not at this point. The reason for this is to get the Google Apps Sync is that you have to be a Google Apps Premier Edition Subscriber.
To be a Premier Edition member it costs $50 bucks per user/ per year. We’ll my Hosted Exchange account costs me $107.50 per year. With only a $50 dollar difference in cost per year it’s not worth the time and effort to switching email providers yet.
Should you use Google Apps Premier?
YES!
Why?
Because most of you are probably using an email of joeshmuckatellyagent@hotmail.com or some other freebie email. This will kill to birds with one stone if you sign up. You will get a professional email address instead of the one you have now and you can keep using Outlook and have everything in sync between Outlook and Google Apps web interface.
Do you want it setup? If so then call me and I can help you get it done.
Many of you have met me and have worked with me before.
Starting today I, Your Local Tech will be your point of contact for all agents in the Seven Gables offices for any of your technology needs. Eric will still be in-charge of office infrastructure (internet, wireless, printers, etc..). When it comes to any of your technology at the office or Home, I am here to help you.
What can I help you with? Anything and Everthing tech. Here are a few items that I can teach you to become more tech savvy about.
Blogs
Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter….)
Smart Phones
Macs
PCs
Home office networking
Wireless Networking
Name it and I have either set it up for fixed it already.
As a reminder to all my other readers, I can help you as well. It does not matter where you are located. As long as you have high speed internet I can remote control you as well and help you become more tech savvy.
What would be the ultimate application for a Real Estate Agent to have on their Facebook Page?
So, you have created your own Facebook page(s) and now you want to spice it up? You can add features, add applications, provide information, show off what your listings.
Have you thought about having your own custom home search application?
I bet you have thought about it and either found it not available or proven to be to confusing to create the application inside of Facebook. There are applications out there where you can add your listings to your FB profile and or page but they seem to be cumbersome and not really useful.
It is now possible to get your own Custom IDX built into a Facebook and added to your page.
Home Search Facebook Application Example
How do you get your own?
This application is custom built for each individual agent. The only requirement is that you already have your own custom IDX solution that has an embeddable link. Most likely everyone reading this post has their own IDX solution so you are good to go.
To get started use My Contact form - Contact Me
Or call me at 714-442-2500
Before setting it up I will want to speak with you to make sure it can be done. Then I will walk you through all the steps you and I will need to do to add the application to your page.
How much does it cost?
It is very inexpensive.
$100.00 Setup fee
$5.00 per month hosting fee
Why the hosting cost? Facebook applications actually live outside of Facebook and on a server on the internet. For your custom Facebook Home Search your application will sit on my server so I can manage it for you.
Contact Me and get your custom Facebook Home Search Application today.
Brad Nix and Mark brought up some great points for not having a FB page.
From Brad Nix in the comments at Dustin’s post:
I was a panelist on the 4Realz call and I think I was the only skeptic of the group, although Reggie Nicolay seemed a bit reserved in his enthusiasm for Fan Pages. I look at it this way… having ‘Friends’ is more rewarding than having ‘Fans’ in real life - same goes for Facebook. The question is not should I be on Facebook as real estate agent, YOU SHOULD. But I don’t think you need a ‘profile’ and a ‘page’. It’s confusing to the FB marketplace, I expect facebookies think along the lines… “where should I get updates from Brad? his profile or his page? Isn’t he cocky asking me to be a fan when I’m already his friend! I sure don’t want to sign up for marketing spam.”
FB ‘pages’ seem to be better suited for Companies or perhaps Communities. Instead of starting a personal FB page about your real estate business, consider starting a FB page about your community, city or specific neighborhood? This seems like a better way to use Fan Pages, in my opinion.
Now it is possible that FB creates some new functionality that makes Fan Pages more attractive to real estate agents, but until then - I’ll just be kicking it with my ‘friends’.
Stay Tuned for a feature that I can create for your facebook pages.
Join us as we bring back the 4realz Roundtable conversations at 2pm PST (5pm EST!) on Thursday to explore how professionals are using Facebook’s Business Pages to market themselves. I would love for you to not only join us, but take part in both the conversation and chat room!
Stephen Jagger of Ubertor is hosting a free online ustream event with Ian Watt (www.ianwatt.ca) for any Realtor that is interested in learning more about online video. The event details are as follows:
LIVE - Round Table Discussion
Guest: Ian Watt
April 30th 10:30am - 11:30am PST
Location: Your Computer
Cost: NO Cost
Complete details and registration is here -
http://www.reachd.com/roundtable
You can see how we promoted it here -
http://blog.ubertor.com/2009/04/27/come-listen-learn-and-ask-questions-with-ian-watt/
Tweetup - May 5th 2009 10am
This is a tentative tweetup that will be at Chapman University in Orange, CA. The exact location has not been set but it will be at the campus just the building hasn’t been set.
This will defenitely be an event to attend since it will be businesses and owners interacting with the Internet Communications class of Chapman University.
MobileAppLoader is a new service providing businesses with customized apps for the iPhone. The product is still in Beta, and that gives you the opportunity to make your own real estate iPhone app for free!
The “Real Esate - Real Easy” iphone app provides quick contact buttons (call, Web, email), the ability to search your listings, a neighborhood locater, property feedback, and a loan calculator.
Mobile applications are hot. Will this product bring you more business? I don’t know, but the price (free during beta) and then $99 setup and $9.99 a month after launch, makes it possibly worth it. The name of the game when it comes to technology products is to try them and see if the ROI is worth it.
dsListingExpress was developed using bleeding edge and best of breed technology to create the most intuitive PLG on the planet. All we need is your name, street address for the property and the price you are hoping to sell it at, then we do the rest.
This new tool uses a really new product from Google. You have to try this tool out for your next listing.
No longer will you have to spend hours writing a property description that provides little information, make you sound like you are trying to be the next Ann Rice or are just plain lies. When creating a listing description our research has shown that transparency is the key to success and to be honest in your descriptions. This way you are not wasting your time or that of the home owners. Our patent pending Listing Description Builder uses the features you asked us to highlight, what is statisticly known about the area, historical MLS data and other proprietary methods to build the ultimate property description. Then we add everything else that will enable your listing to be sold quickly.
RE BarCamp is coming to Los Angeles and Phoenix. Are you going? You should be?
What is a BarCamp?
They are “unconferences”. That means there are no set agendas, topics or speakers. The day’s schedule is determined by the attendee’s in the morning. If you want to speak, you suggest a topic. If there is something you want to know about, you encourage people to talk about it. It’s hard to explain and sounds a little goofy, but believe me, it works.
Here is a video from the first RE BarCamp 2008
Why should you attend?
At RE BarCamp you will meet some of the smartest people in the Real Estate Technology area and the agents that use the newest technology tools for their business.
These people will teach things such as:
Strategies of Blogging for Business in Real Estate
Preferred Blogging Platforms
Online Tools to Boost Your Blog (and ultimately your biz)
So your set and ready to come
Here is the info on locations and dates
Los Angeles
When?Thursday, April 2nd! Location: Pasadena Hilton
168 South Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm Cost: FREE! But you have to RSVP here
Phoenix
What: RE BarCamp Phoenix
Who: Realtors, lenders, title, escrow, appraisers, inspectors, virtual assistants, home stagers and anyone else in the real estate world who wants to improve their social media game.
When: April 23, 2009. Time 9:00 - 5:00 (Date confirmed, exact time TBD)
Why: To learn from each other, to network with each other, to encourage each other, to challenge each other, to help make each one of us better at what we do.
How Much? FREE
Here is another video to help you understand the BarCamp experience. If you have the time and you are near either of these events you must attend. You also need to RSVP
For over 10 years I have teaching people how to use their computers and also fixing them. When I am fixing a computer for someone I always take the time to explain to the them the different internal parts of the computer and what they do.
Common Craft has released a video explaining Computer Hardware and I thought this would help everyone.
