While there are hundreds, if not thousands, of new apps and Web tools, the question is which ones are really useful to you and your real estate business?
How many apps do you have on your smartphone? More importantly, how many of them do you actually use on a regular basis? Below you will find a tool that can help you quickly create landing pages that really convert leads, two powerful apps you can use on your listings appointments, as well as an app that could literally save your life.
1. Unbounce: Turn your website into a lead generation machine
You have a website, but what are you using for lead capture? Some agents make visitors register to see listings, but this antiquated approach usually causes people to surf elsewhere. A much better approach is to create a well-constructed landing page. The challenge is figuring out how to design the page. This is where Unbounce.com can really help you out.
Unbounce provides 50 different high-converting landing pages. Simply fill out the template with your copy and photos and upload it to your site.
Unbounce also includes an unlimited amount of A/B testing. This allows you to track various combinations of Web copy, fonts, colors, page arrangements, and photos in order to determine which combinations produce the highest conversion rates.
If you have 5,000 or fewer Web visitors per month, the monthly fee for an unlimited number of landing pages is $49.
2. Mosaic (HeyMosaic.com): a beautiful, customized gift
A primary challenge at closing time is finding a great closing gift for your clients that won’t break the bank. Mosaic is a beautiful option that creates a high-quality photo book from the convenience of your smartphone. This is a fantastic tool for capturing special events, whether it’s a birthday party, graduation, or just a fun day out on the water.
Mosaic is also a great tool for your real estate business. Here are some ideas:
Use Mosaic to create a closing gift by uploading 20 of your favorite photos from your mobile device. The photo book “begs to be picked up and viewed.”
An even better idea is to create the book prior to the property selling and use it as a marketing tool at open houses.
You can also use Mosaic on listing appointments to show sellers how you market your listings.
At $20 per book plus tax and shipping, this makes a truly unique gift as well as a very useful tool for marketing your business.
3. Issuu: Create custom publications for your listings
Like Mosaic, you can also use Issuu as part of your listing appointment strategy, especially on luxury listings. While Mosaic creates a physical book, Issuu allows you to create a beautiful online marketing piece that includes a digital reader. You can create an “Issuu” for your local area, tours of historical homes or for specific listings.
“Issuu’s statistics will tell you not only how many readers you have, but also which pages they liked best, how they found you, how active they are, when and where they read the most, and what devices they use.”
4. AgentsArmor
Given how often real estate agents sit an open house, take strangers out in their cars and venture into dangerous neighborhoods, it’s no wonder Realtors can often be unsuspecting targets for criminal activity.
You can take steps to protect yourself by refusing to show property to buyers who have not been preapproved, having someone sit your open houses with you, and keeping pepper spray on hand. But what are your options when you find yourself in a truly dangerous situation with only your cellphone?
AgentsArmor is a mobile app that provides a suite of layered security services to keep you safe from harm.
If you are showing property or sitting an open house, use the check-in feature. If you fail to check in at the appointed time, the app notifies the contacts that you have specified via a text message and/or email. Your contacts will also be notified if you activate your emergency/911 button or your duress code. The app also reports your GPS coordinates and contacts local law enforcement.
You can also use the “ArmorImage” technology if you are feeling nervous about a particular open house visitor or client. Take a picture of their vehicle tag or license plate. This information is uploaded into a database where only your broker, your selected contacts, and/or law enforcement will have access to them.
As we wrap up 2013, go through the apps and the tools that you use on a regular basis and delete the ones you are not using. This makes room for new tools and apps that you can use throughout the upcoming year.
Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, trainer and author of the National Association of Realtors’ No. 1 best-seller, “Real Estate Dough: Your Recipe for Real Estate Success.” Hear Bernice’s five-minute daily real estate show, just named “new and notable” by iTunes, at www.RealEstateCoachRadio.com.
