Don't let mobile pass you by
Part 1: Trends and gems from Connect NYC
By Bernice Ross, Thursday, February 11, 2010.
Editor's note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Read Part 2 and Part 3.
Are you ready to jumpstart your business in 2010? If so, here are some of the best "trends and gems" from Real Estate Connect New York City.
1. Everything in a pocket
One of the most important trends for 2010 is the portability of technology. Today's smartphones have more computing power than the desktops from just a few years ago. Who would have thought that your cell phone could take photos, shoot videos, read bar codes, find your exact location anywhere in the world, play video games, or do 10,000 other things?
Business tip: You have a Web site, but is it optimized for mobile technology?
Flash applications and multiple images result in slow download times on mobile devices. Today's mobile users expect fast loading sites. Otherwise they lose patience and surf elsewhere.
Consequently, remove flash applications and minimize the number of images on your home page because they slow download time. Furthermore, when a search engine encounters a flash application or an image, all it sees is a blank. While these may look great, they do nothing to improve your search-engine ranking.
You can optimize your site for mobile technology in several ways. One approach is to build a separate "dotMobi" site that provides the key links that most Web visitors want: "What's for sale?" "What's my home worth?" and "How's the market?"
A better approach is to optimize your main Web site so that it serves the needs of traditional Web visitors as well as those with mobile devices.
Since Gen X and Gen Y now dominate the buying pool, they tend to search and scan Web sites rather than reading paragraphs of content. Consequently, the best way to address the needs of both types of visitors is to set up your site using a headline and bullet format. Provide links to the key items on your site. The most important link will be your IDX feed.
Another way to speed up load times, especially with MLS photos, is to provide your clients with access to a mobile application such as Boopsie, which works on all smartphones. Using the phone's GPS system, your buyer can access property data directly from the MLS without having to waste time typing the property address into the phone's browser. This reduces download times up to 80 percent.
2. Cloud computing
"Cloud computing" refers to doing everything online. In other words, rather than purchasing software applications and installing them on your computer, you use the Internet to access applications and store data on remote servers. Gmail is a good example. Rather than having to download a program such as Outlook or Eudora, Gmail resides on the Google server. Just sign up and start using the program. ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by Paul Howard on February 11, 2010 - 5:59am.
Great information here, however, this is disturbing.
" When your clients sign an offer, they sign only once -- the tablet will populate the document with their signatures in the appropriate places."
Wow, if ever there was a recipe for a lawsuit I think that may be it.
I'd have my clients avoid any such software like the plague. I want them to actually know what they are signing.
Paul Howard, Broker
NJHomeBuyer.com Realty
Cherry Hill NJ 08002
Submitted by berge charles on February 11, 2010 - 1:26pm.
cb
Excellent & informative article..
Submitted by Mike Sparr on February 11, 2010 - 1:42pm.
I saw your article in Inman on mobile and wanted to share some thoughts and data points with you. I like your posts by the way. ;-)
One thing I continually see lacking in industry reports on mobile, is the market data on what devices and carrier plans make up the US market. This information is key to educate agents on what will work for their business. I use an example of an aftermarket car parts manufacturer. They don’t make parts until they understand what car models exist in the market. I see articles recommending agents “go mobile” and even mention products, but they do not educate agents on what will work in their market. There are some great resources from CTIA, Canalys, M:Metrics (now Comscore), AdMob (now Google) and USShortCodes to illustrate the US mobile market. I think anyone writing about mobile should be familiar with these, and the industry metrics, because they’re so important to what actually delivers value to readers.
Did you know approximately 30% of Americans have a data plan? This means 70% cannot use mobile search, apps, etc. I’ve still yet to see anyone report this information, and correlate the $30/mo extra for data plan with carriers as a price barrier to consumer adoption. Carriers and their price plans are influenced by Wall St. so until their next up sell, these will remain high and continue to be a barrier for massive reach. GPS-based plans, like with Verizon, still add $12/mo and are yet another barrier.
According to some reports, iPhones make up less than 12% of US market. They are indeed the fastest growing, but still 88% of a market is missed with just an iPhone app strategy. The #1 smart phone is BlackBerry. The #1 phone (over 50% Americans) is small handheld (non smart phone). All mobile search solutions require a data plan, whether apps or mobile web. These are important things to report on to truly make recommendations to agents who don’t know better, or have over a decade of experience in mobile, worldwide.
When trying to help agents sell more properties, they need to research what really helps them. Both Inman (just over a week ago) and NAR (last quarter) reported the fastest growing and largest segment of buyers are first time home buyers. Since November 2007, US carriers have reported that this same segment (demographic) texts more than talk. This means today’s buyers are better reached through text messaging, which consequently represents now 80% of US cellular phone subscribers. Over 72% of which are aged 25-49 (who agents are targeting). How did charities try to reach the most consumers during the Haiti crisis, for example?
Below are a few links and blog discussions that may be useful, or minimally thought provoking. If you ever need information, please don’t hesitate to ping me.
- http://www.goomzee.com/products-mobile-market.htm
- http://blog.goomzee.com/2010/02/03/what-mobile-solution-is-best-for-you/ (good link at top)
Today’s buyers would rather initially text than talk to you:
- http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/11/survey_record
- http://post.inman.com/t/19348/100989/2414/0/
- http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10048257-94.html
Just gaining leads isn’t enough, it’s what you do with them that matters. Here’s another good article illustrating agent benefit (My company, Goomzee for instance, is like IVR but with SMS technology, reaching today’s buyer who prefer to text than talk). As reported to date, besides referrals, there’s no better tool for today’s agent to generate sales.
- http://www.baylor.edu/business/kellercenter/index.php?id=55741
--
Mike Sparr
Goomzee.com
"Connecting buyers and sellers"
Submitted by Mike Sparr on February 12, 2010 - 10:32am.
Mobile App Choices
thoughts about above