Up your game and 2010 business plan

There are a lot of real estate folks out there that are just keeping their heads above water and waiting to touch bottom again with their feet. Others are already bone dry and marching on into 2010 with hopes of a better year.

If you know me at all you already know I am into marketing and technology, specifically mobile technology such as the iPhone, Droid and BlackBerry mobiles. Consumers are now upgrading to iPhone and the new Droid touchphones…your target market groups use them. 

The advantages presented by a touchphone to give you Web On The Go are awesome as most say at first use and live viewing. So how can this help the real estate industry and your office market better in 2010? First accept the facts that people, your clients 1) now shop online en mass, 2) stop and view a yard (for sale) signed home from curbside in their car on their touchphone, 3) may like to see the face of the listing agent and the agents credentials before they call the agent, 4) may wish to see homes their agent of choice has on the market while they are out driving the community looking for a home. I could go on but you get the point…technology has taken the web to your hands for viewing most anywhere and anytime you wish to log on from your mobile (cell).

This is new territory to may brokers and agents alike. What I have taken on is the challenge to bring it to them, let them test drive it a while (30-90 days), see how it can change their marketing strategy dramatically, promote their Showcase of My Listings and also their IDX MLS too, put their face and credentials right under the noses of the clients. In short help you make more sales in 2010!

So if you now have an itch for try it, let me know and we will hook you up in a week or less for a test drive (30-90 days)of this cool new tool. It’s not an APP so the annual costs are far less, in fact at only $194.95 annual for the agents package. Broker multi sites are slightly less for office listings of agents.

View my portfolio at: http://www.twiistings.com and see examples of the various agent pages we have LIVE NOW.

In a depressed area just now, let me know and we can consider doubling your test period to help you out.  

Know someone who may wish to have this tool and try it out, please pass on this URL and posting with my thanks!

Test drive email: enquiries [at] easyhotspots.com      Subject – test drive twiistings mobile

Larry Mel Baker

twiistings dot com now live…

On 31 Dec 2009 I lit it up…now to see how bright it shines in 2010!

For some months I have been debating on the right formula for a new service to the real estate industry using touchphone technology and the platform itself as a mass media vehicle.

True not everyone has a touchphone in their hands, not yet anyway. This in mind and knowing many real estate brokers and agents use BlackBerry mobiles/cells I carried on with the concept which I have been working on for a year.

APPs for iPhone and Droid (aka Android) are brilliant, but…costly to produce and not easily modified, plus the related monthly operating costs. I am not an APP Developer, I do not have the patience to do this type of work. I am however an xhtml developer and online marketing geek. My idea was quite simplistic, in the beginning anyway.

I wanted to develop a touchphone friendly web design that was cross platform compatible for PC and Touchphones. This I refined and tested for over a year to achieve the results to date. Touch web has it’s own challenges and rules to achieve the desired screen presentation and ease of navigation for the viewer staring down at the screen.

If you visit http://www.twiistings.com you will see the product of my work to date and the service I now offer to the real estate industry.

The costs are kept in check and we have worked out a profit margin we can live with to allow the use of our services without placing an additional media expense strain on the bottom line of the business users. 

Our annual service packages are priced right as are the video web services per production. We want long term customer relationships and word of mouth referrals to help this new business flourish.

If you know someone in the industry please consider passing on this blog posting with my thanks.

Larry Mel Baker

Thanks for the Memories…

Is the time of year one stops to reflect as another year is about to pass and the holidays approach.

Over coffee this morning I reflected on the memories others have given to us, such as Bob Hope’s USO tours on tv and Bing Crosby’s Christmas songs. Just two Americans among many who have given so much to others…”thanks for the memories”!

Happy Holidays to you and yours

Social Networking is the new Country Store in your area.

Years gone by the Country Store was “the place” to shop, visit with neighbors and friends, catch up on all the local news and during the winter have a cup of coffee to warm you up before returning home.

Social Networking online has many parallels to this community interaction of the past. Those who are in business know the importance of marketing your services/products.

Today is a good a time as any to look at your marketing plan business goals. Taking on social networking as another vital business tool is a wise choice and in some instances critical for survival in the future.

For those who have websites and blogs online … advertise the fact that you are active on twitter and facebook and link to your accounts. Then, make time every day to be active on each and network with others. It just makes good business sense to do it as a matter of daily activity and self promotion/marketing.

Twitter and Facebook among many social networking sites have gone mobile so you can interact almost anywhere and anytime you have a signal on your touchphone.

The biggest little billboard in the world…

The word is out and soon will be common knowledge in every corner of the globe. The biggest little billboard in the world is the Touchphone.

Advertising, media, public relations, online marketing and social networking will step up to the biggest little billboard that’s in your hand, pocket or handbag, it’s your Touchphone.

Reach your audience and market where ever they go, any and every time they are online. So up your game plan this month if your going to stay in the game … and be up there with the Touch savvy media heads. 

And yes, we do this type of web production work at http://www.WebInHand.mobi

Natural SEO does get you results

Noted a blog today that clearly misdefines SEO and how it can help real estate agent websites. Still appears to be considerable lack of knowledge of what SEO is and does for a web site when applied correctly.

If you operate a real estate web site and want a keyboard summary with tips on how you can tweak your own site easily, send me a note with your URL, target audience, geo market, and top ten keywords (not phrases) of your choice.

Based on my workload and demand I will reply with a summary and my recommendations for you to consider. A simple no nonsense offer of assistance in my spare time to help your business. I find networking helps mine.

mailto:  info (at) webinhand.mobi

“ABOUT LISTING AGENT ON MOBILE” added to your House For Sale signs

When I drive by a House for Sale and see the agents sign, I often wonder who is the listing agent of this house for sale and what are they like if I called them. I guess you could call it pre approach for the sellers agent I might be dealing with if I wanted to know more about the home or schedule a walk through visit.

Adding a mobile phone about/bio page could be one answer. Let me know please if you use this as am collecting data on the topic. Thanks…

Retail and Real Estate shift in marketing to Touchphone

Online name brand retailers, fashion name brands and now Real Estate firms are taking their marketing touch mobile and using social networking to netcast their branded messages and touchphone friendly site / page URL’s.

How better to reach the rapidly growing and hyper active (online) social touchphone user audience. Bring foot traffic into your eshop, local store or showcase viewing home using the newest and very possibly soon to be among the largest media viewing platforms – the iPhone / Android OS Touchphones.

In 2010 watch closely as major name brands invest and secure their futures in Touch Us Online  technology with ad promotional pages, macro sites, APPs, eShopping, MLS and more.

CEO’s, marketing managers and sales professionals of all sectors who pick up and orient them self with Touchphone Internet browsing (web surfing) are the movers and shakers to watch as they will exploit Touch Us Online marketing and set new trends with customers. 

It’s a brave new world online and getting brighter with each Touch screen pixel…

Mobile phone VoIP and SocialApproach.com … did they get it right

If you know me at all you will know I am into online marketing and have been for some years. In twitter I came across SocialApproach when they followed me.  I checked them out and discovered a jewel in the social community service category. Did they get it right…read on and you decide.

From their ad page:

“Driving Sales Using Social Media
Social Approach is a marketing platform that drives targeted social media traffic to brands.

Social Approach is a performance marketing company that uses the social web to drive sales leads to brand’s networks.

We use our own battle-tested platform to search the social web and find each brand’s most influential and virally active advocates.

Once that’s done, the platform uses sophisticated scoring techniques to identify the most efficient route to activate the brand advocates and drive sales leads.”

 What I found was simply an excellent idea that was executed smoothly and held my attention (not easily done). So if your into VoIP on your mobile or soon will be, do take five minutes and check out SocialApproach dot com’s web site VoIP page at:   http://socialapproach.com/voip  

If your into Brand marketing online (like most businesses today) you really want to have your head of marketing get with this service provider over coffee and talk how they can help your business.

Larry

Blogging about iPhone – Touchphone for marketing and social networking

I talk about all things related to my work, people I meet, projects on my laptop and generally my view of the world over coffee. When on the go I update using my iPhone 3G with WordPress APP.

Tip: mobile viewers, best viewed in LANDSCAPE mode