It’s called a Keyport.  Watch the video if you want to know why I think this is such a powerful marketing tool and it’s only 3 minutes, a record for me!  Sorry for the terrible lighting but the babies were asleep upstairs, so this is a basement video.

Disclaimer – I think sometimes my passion for cool tech things gets confused with “a sales pitch”.  If you buy 1 million of these things, I get absolutely nothing in return…maybe a thank you from Keyport.  I have no motivation to sell this product other than the fact that I own one and love it.  That’s all. However, I do have a discount code for you! TECHSAVVY10A for 10% off any of the USB inserts.

Check out my shirt in the video, it rocks! A special thanks goes out to The Geeky Girls!

1.  The New Twitter – All new design and analytics coming soon.  Why it maters to you and how to leverage location for business.

2.  Facebook Ads – Facebok has increased the number of Ads that are visible from 3 to 4 showing that the demand for PPC in Facebook is real.

3.  Target.com – Watch what they are doing with “The percentage of people that viewed this bought this”. Could be a game changer in the future.

4. iPad Apps – There are some new iPad apps specific to Realtors and I review one called Open Home Pro that is free and has tremendous potential.  Any agent with an iPad should download it now.

That’s it.  The good stuff is in the above video and I hope you guys enjoyed these quick tips!  Any feedback or thoughts on these emerging trends?

1. Mobility – She should be able to perform many (if not all) of the same functions away from the office.
2. Improves efficiencies and services to customers – For me this is accomplished by observation in the field, understanding the processes, and listening to gripes as issues come up and how she would like things to work.  I’m still working on the solution for beaming herself and the customers from home to home for tours.  I’ll get back to you all on that.
3. Provides a return on investment – The equipment should pay for itself usually with the first year and then some each year.

Second, I look for equipment that is easy-to-use since her main focus needs to be working with buyers and sellers with little or no complications with equipment.  When we were seeking to replace her Treo last year (which turned into more of expense rather than an investment, but you live and learning right?), we were eagerly waiting for the release of the Droid line of phones from Verizon.  As a big iPod Touch user as a PDA and a Google user, I saw huge benefits in Real Estate with the iPhone and knew I could make that device work pretty easily within her business and it would fit into ALL the above criteria.  What I wasn’t pleased with was the AT&T plans and the lack of choice.  Naturally, I was very interested when Verizon announced the coming line of Droid phones.  So we waited and I have to say that I am glad we did.

So let’s take a look at the Top 5 Reasons Android Smartphones Work Very Well In Real Estate:

1. Seamless integration with Google Products and services.  Whether you are a Gmail user or a Google Apps (which I highly recommend for Real Estate agents) user, Android requires a simple sign on to your account and that’s it.  All your contacts, calendar entries,  email, and Picasa stored photos  are imported.  You can integrate a Gmail or your Google Apps account with an iPhone, but it is a multi-step process that can be confusing for some.  The thing my wife particularly loves about this is that her database of contacts and calendar appointments is always up-to-date in both spots without dealing with cumbersome hookups or software for syncing.  Add a contact on your PC/Mac under your Google account (or Outlook if you have Google Apps Premiere with contact syncing) and the information is automatically available on your phone and vice versa.  We also share calendars so she can easily see my work schedule and I can see her appointments to help keep her on track no matter where we enter the information.  No, I do not have a GPS tracking chip installed under my skin so she can track me. . . I think.
2. Great voice command integration.  Google has been incorporating voice into their services in some very interesting and amazingly reliable ways.  Google Voice, for example, can actually transcribe voice mails and send them via a text message in a few seconds.  On the Android phones there is the now common voice search from Google and voice texting, but go up to Android 2.2 version (Froyo) and you get Voice Actions.  This amazing service actually allows you to dictate emails and text messages unleashing you from the keyboard.
3. Good lineup of apps.  One of the most powerful features of today’s smartphones (and credit needs to go to Apple’s iPhone here) has been apps.  I say ‘good’ here with the Android apps because Apple does have richer looking apps in their store since developers have been heavily focused there.  The Android lineup is improving everyday with the massive growth in the Android device market.  These little targeted programs allow agents to have almost every real estate tool and important information available to them at their fingertips.  This includes social networking apps for Facebook and Twitter (Tweetcaster & Hootsuite are great on Android phones).  Plus you get valuable information such as Google mapping, mortgage calculators, local information, flashlights (ever visit a house in the evening that doesn’t have power?), a level, and the list goes on.
4. Reduce the amount of equipment you carry. Most of these phones come equipped with 5.0 megapixel cameras that even allow you to do minor editing right on the phone.  For most Real Estate photos, 5.0 megpixels is a good quality for property photos.  The Samsung Fascinate phone even incorporates in a very nice 9 photo panoramic image maker.  This feature automatically guides the user through and lines up the photos and processes the image in no time.  For anyone who has done panoramics for virtual tours such as VisualTours (which is a great service by the way), you know the hassle it can be.  Likewise, photos you take can be easily saved to Picasa online and shared with a customer.  We’ve been using Picasa for several years to share requested photos with customers.  No cumbersome attachments, simply send them the link.  In addition these phones have great GPS navigation capability, calculator functions, local information access, so forth and so on.
5. More choice. Since technology purchases are an investment in your business, choice means better pricing and the ability to find a device and plan that best suits your individual needs.  The iPhone exists only with AT&T (and I’m not into the jalibreaking thing for the proponents of that) which is no choice obviously.  Android phones exist with multiple carriers such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc .  You get to choose a phone and a plan that better suits you.  With the iPhone you get the choice of . . . an iPhone and an AT&T plan which has limit on data usage.

I do recommend taking your time selecting an Android phone and do the research.  They are NOT all the same.  You’ll find that the lower-priced Android phones often cannot upgrade to the current versions of the Android OS which adds some really nice features in.  And quite frankly, why buy something that is blocked out right out of the box?  We just got the Samsung Fascinate (Galaxy S line of Samsung phones) from Verizon and are really pleased with them.  Lightweight, great display, and upgradeable to future Android versions.

Stay tuned for . . . my Android Apps Lineup for Real Estate: What’s in Your Apps Wallet?

QR Codes, Augmented Reality, Google WalkAround Jack, Tracking Expenses, Cloud Documents and more were all discussed. Your life as a Realtor is becoming more mobile, is your marketing? We hope you enjoy this awesome show hosted by Chris Smith and Greg Grospitch of Tech Savvy Agent. For any questions or comments feel free to leave those below!

I spoke with Jeremy Blanton of 210 Consulting, also the former community manager for ActiveRain (largest real estate blogging community), and he shared with me that when he takes on a new client they are thinking way too big.  You will never be #1 in Google for “Your City Real Estate”, so don’t even bother trying.  The other point that Jeremy made that was right on was that the keywords searched are a good indicator of where the client is in the buying process.  Once someone has decided the city where they want to move to they are going to start searching hyper locally.  These hyper local searches will include the names of the neighborhoods they are interested, price points, property types, amenities, etc.. in their later stage searches in Google.  So this means they need to be included in your blog post title, tags and body, then rinse and repeat as often as possible.  Jeremy even told me a story of an agent that after meeting with him and writing her first post earned a listing the next day because she was already #1 in Google and a prospective seller found her immediately.  $10,000 commission check later, she is now an avid hyper local real estate blogger!

This is the 4th post by Tech Savvy Agent on blogging, keywords and taking a hyper local approach in the past few weeks.  It keeps coming up because it works!  If you have any questions for Jeremy you can check him out via his social media company 210 Consulting.